Married a soldier, not a rapist, says wife of Rewari case accused

Sumedha Sharma

Tribune News Service 

Gurugram, September 20

Unable to bear the stigma of being called a “rapist’s wife”, Rewari gangrape key accused Pankaj’s wife has left for her parental home in Khurwahta, “never to return”. She wants the marriage annulled. 

The issue will be taken up by a mahapanchayat of 51 villages, says Mahendragarh’s Naya Gaon sarpanch Sarita Devi. Pankaj, 26,  joined the Army two years ago. He and his friends Manish and Nishu along with others allegedly raped a 19-year-old girl after abducting her from Kanina while she was on her way back from a coaching centre. Nishu has been nabbed.

“I married a soldier, not a rapist. I have nothing to do with that man (Pankaj) and have nothing to say. 

I don’t want mine or my family’s name soiled. I am a victim, too, just like the girl who was raped. My life has been ruined. I don’t know about his whereabouts. He told me nothing,” she says.

 Meanwhile, Pankaj’s sister has appealed to him to surrender. “Whatever the truth may be, he needs to come out and own it. The family is facing a nightmare. To end our misery, he must approach the police,” she says.

Accused Nishu’s father, who is physically challenged, has been ostracised by fellow villagers. 

“I wanted to be known as the father of a great kabaddi player, but that was not to be. I always encouraged Nishu to keep company with Pankaj so that he could get a job in the forces like him. Everybody says he was a brat and a molester, but I never saw him as one,” he says, still in shock over the turn of events.