Murthal rapes

Had it not been for the judiciary and a persistent media, the Haryana state machinery would by now have swept the Murthal rape case under the carpet. For about a year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has been prodding the government and shaming it into following the letter of the law in this case. The hearing on Wednesday was no different. The court was once again forced to emphasise its perception that the rape allegation was not without basis and the government was bound to trace and book the culprits. It also had to remind the Khattar government not to shelter behind the plea that there were no reliable witnesses or culprits. 

The court has been repeatedly calling the Haryana administration's bluff, even asking it if it had adopted a new CrPC? The state's concerted attempt to avoid taking action is completely incomprehensible. It could not be a misplaced sense of protesting the state's izzat. The entire country had seen the complete paralysis of the state machinery for 10 days. This is actually a poor advertisement for a government that promises an ideal society but could not keep its premier highway trouble-free. Either the Haryana Chief Minister is not in full control of the administration or there is a deliberate effort to put the past behind and let the "boys" go scot free. 

The Haryana government is now stating that while it does not rule out rape, molestation had definitely taken place. But it still maintains there are no witnesses or culprits. The High Court is unwilling to let the trial court proceed till investigations take the right path. Its earlier hearings had also put the Special Investigating Team (SIT) into the dock for inventing its own investigation procedure. It is too much to expect speedy action against arsonists and trouble-makers in other incidents of violence. But this is different. The next hearing is a week away and the Haryana Government is under a huge moral obligation to get to the bottom of the heinous crime against unwary women whose only fault was to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.