‘Forcible’ cremation of Dalit girl in Delhi ‘reminiscent of Hathras’, says CPI(M)’s Brinda Karat
New Delhi, August 4
The “forcible” cremation of the nine-year-old Dalit girl who was allegedly raped and killed in Delhi was reminiscent of last year’s Hathras incident, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday and demanded urgent action in the case.
The CPI(M) politburo member, who met the mother of the victim in the morning, said although four people have been arrested in this case, the role of the Sadar Thana Cantonment area police was “shocking, to say the least”.
The girl died under mysterious circumstances when she went to get water from a cooler at a crematorium in the Old Nangal area of southwest Delhi last Sunday. Her parents alleged that she was raped and her body was forcibly cremated by a crematorium priest who had falsely claimed that she was electrocuted.
Hundreds of locals, including the victim’s parents, have been staging a protest near the site of the incident, demanding capital punishment for the convicts.
Police had on Monday said that based on the statement of the victim’s mother, rape charges have been added in the FIR. Four people, including the priest, have been arrested.
In her letter to the Union home minister, Karat said the victim was “forcibly cremated by the criminals when the mother was in a state of trauma and shock”.
“The community is also enraged because according to custom, young girls are buried and not cremated. Therefore, the lie being spread that the mother agreed to the cremation is criminal enough and reminiscent of what happened in the Hathras case.”
In the Hathras incident, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men on September 14 last year and she died on September 29 at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.
She was cremated in the dead of the night on September 30 near her home in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras. Her family alleged they were forced by the local police to hurriedly conduct her last rites. Police officers, however, said the cremation was carried out “as per the wishes of the family”.
“There (in Hathras) the police themselves cremated the victim. Here (Delhi) the police refused to act in time. Secondly, instead of helping the family members who were in a state of shock, the police detained them at the police station for several hours. This is inhuman and totally illegal.
“Third, the family were not given the FIR until there were protests from the community. Also, the police did not use the correct sections including those under the POSCO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and the Prevention of Atrocities (Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes) Act,” Karat said in the letter.
She said that it is “regrettable” that Shah had not intervened yet in this case although the Delhi Police is directly under the Union Home Ministry.
“My request is that you kindly ensure that justice is done. The parents cannot be ever compensated for the loss of their beloved daughter. But the government is duty-bound to ensure them financial support. I also request you to take immediate action against the police personnel involved. The message of justice for the child must go out loud and strong,” she said. — PTI
