Dalit gang rape victim alleges police inaction

Our Correspondent

Kaithal, June 23

A Dalit woman, a resident of Salempur Gamri under Guhla police station in the district, was gang-raped over a month and half ago but the police have failed to arrest the accused.

The woman has alleged that she was called to the police station a number of times and made to sit and wait for hours but no case was registered. The police have made no effort to arrest the culprits.

Fed up with police inaction, she sent a complaint letter to the DGP. She expressed her anguish and even revealed the names of the culprits before mediapersons here today.

She said a woman runs a shop in their locality and sells articles of women use. She went to the shop about and a month and a half ago. Five or six persons allegedly picked her up from the shop and took her to a tubewell and raped her. She was also taken to Balbehra in Punjab and gang-raped there. She was thrashed and threatened not to reveal the incident to anyone.

The victim said two accused belong to Masatgarh village while one of the remaining is a reputed person and runs a shuttering shop in Guhla. She also named and blamed the woman running the shop and a resident of Agondh village for their involvement in the crime.

The victim and her husband said following their complaint, the police visited the spot where she was gang-raped and prepared a sketch. However, till date they did not register a case and rather referred the matter to the Mahila Mandal. She was being pressured to arrive at a compromise.

Meanwhile, a large number of villagers came out in her support and convinced the police that she was gang-raped. She said to press her to withdraw her complaint, the police now say that her husband had raped the daughter of the woman shopkeeper.

The couple said they had filed a complaint with the IGP, Karnal, and at the Chief Minister’s window but no action had been taken. Meanwhile, ASI Satparkash of Guhla police station said the woman had filed a complaint and the matter was under investigation.