dipu
04-09-2013, 08:49 PM
The immediate casualty of the alleged abduction, rape and murder of a 20-year-old Dalit girl from Baniyakheda in Jind district of Haryana is that girls from the village are refusing to go to school. The mutilated body of the girl was found more than a week ago, after she had gone missing while on her way to write a compartment exam in Basic Teacher Training.
“My daughter and other girls are just refusing to attend school,” said a villager, who was beaten up by the police while participating in a silent protest against police negligence in Jind. Perpetrators of the crime are still at large and Dalit girls are scared to step out of their homes.
“Will Dalit girls stop studying now?” said Vimal Thorat, national convenor for the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM) at a conference to release the report of a fact finding team from Delhi that visited Jind on August 29. The girl’s father, who was in the Capital to collect the third post-mortem report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, addressed journalists and said: “Half the village has suffered injuries from police lathi charge. We want justice.”
It is the fifth day and the family has not received a copy of the report yet.
“AIIMS told us to collect the report from Jind police,” said advocate Rajat Kalsan, counsel for the girl’s family.
“When the family first went to the police, they did not register a missing person’s case, nor did they send out a search party. They told the family to go looking for the girl on their own. An entire night passed before they did anything. And this happened because she was a poor Dalit’s daughter. Had she been the daughter of a Superintendent of Police an or a politician, the entire Jind would have been cordoned off at that very instant,” he said.
The fact finding team, comprising Asha Kowtal of AIDMAM; Kalyani Menon Sen of Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression; Nisha Kumari of Action Aid; Jenny Rowena of Savari and others, is demanding the transfer of the case to the CBI or an independent inquiry into the matter.
Pointing to subversion of facts and misleading of public opinion, advocate Vrinda Grover said the police must make the post-mortem and viscera reports public as soon as possible.
“It is unclear as to whether inquest proceedings were held at all in this case,” she said. As per Section 166 (A) of the Indian Penal Code, action can be taken against any police personnel found to be delaying or subverting the investigation of a case.
“It is an open challenge to the Haryana Government to show that they have taken action against a single police person under 166 (A).”
Giving a call for a separate Dalitstan in Haryana, Ms. Thorat said: “From Gohana to Mirchpur to Kaithal, it seems like a conspiracy to drive Dalits out of Haryana. Should we ask for a separate State for Dalits where our girls will be safe and attend school?”
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, more than four Dalit women are raped everyday and this figure is under reported. Compiling data from news reports, People’s Media Advocacy and Resources Centre states that 101 heinous crimes were committed against Dalit women from the December 16 gang-rape case to the self-styled godman Asaram Bapu’s case.
“Where is the public outcry when a Dalit girl is raped?” said Asha. thehindu.com
“My daughter and other girls are just refusing to attend school,” said a villager, who was beaten up by the police while participating in a silent protest against police negligence in Jind. Perpetrators of the crime are still at large and Dalit girls are scared to step out of their homes.
“Will Dalit girls stop studying now?” said Vimal Thorat, national convenor for the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM) at a conference to release the report of a fact finding team from Delhi that visited Jind on August 29. The girl’s father, who was in the Capital to collect the third post-mortem report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, addressed journalists and said: “Half the village has suffered injuries from police lathi charge. We want justice.”
It is the fifth day and the family has not received a copy of the report yet.
“AIIMS told us to collect the report from Jind police,” said advocate Rajat Kalsan, counsel for the girl’s family.
“When the family first went to the police, they did not register a missing person’s case, nor did they send out a search party. They told the family to go looking for the girl on their own. An entire night passed before they did anything. And this happened because she was a poor Dalit’s daughter. Had she been the daughter of a Superintendent of Police an or a politician, the entire Jind would have been cordoned off at that very instant,” he said.
The fact finding team, comprising Asha Kowtal of AIDMAM; Kalyani Menon Sen of Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression; Nisha Kumari of Action Aid; Jenny Rowena of Savari and others, is demanding the transfer of the case to the CBI or an independent inquiry into the matter.
Pointing to subversion of facts and misleading of public opinion, advocate Vrinda Grover said the police must make the post-mortem and viscera reports public as soon as possible.
“It is unclear as to whether inquest proceedings were held at all in this case,” she said. As per Section 166 (A) of the Indian Penal Code, action can be taken against any police personnel found to be delaying or subverting the investigation of a case.
“It is an open challenge to the Haryana Government to show that they have taken action against a single police person under 166 (A).”
Giving a call for a separate Dalitstan in Haryana, Ms. Thorat said: “From Gohana to Mirchpur to Kaithal, it seems like a conspiracy to drive Dalits out of Haryana. Should we ask for a separate State for Dalits where our girls will be safe and attend school?”
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, more than four Dalit women are raped everyday and this figure is under reported. Compiling data from news reports, People’s Media Advocacy and Resources Centre states that 101 heinous crimes were committed against Dalit women from the December 16 gang-rape case to the self-styled godman Asaram Bapu’s case.
“Where is the public outcry when a Dalit girl is raped?” said Asha. thehindu.com