About 2 weeks back, a Dalit teenager girl from Hathras was allegedly gang raped by upper caste man from her village. They also injured her spine and her tongue was cut so that she will not be able to say anything against them to police, and also warned her if she told about the incident to anyone of her family, she would be shot dead . As per family in the following days after the incident, neither police treated her with sympathy nor she get the required medical treatment. When the media got to know about this incident there were too much hue and cry on all the forms of media, like print, TV and social media. After this govt came to action, and to treat her she was transferred to Safdarjang Hospital in Delhi, where she succumb to her injuries yesterday.
The bungling of case did not end there, what happened after her death is also shocking. During Tuesday night UP police transported her body in ambulance to her native village, and requested family members to immediately cremate her body. But the family members were not ready for cremating her at that time. But police any how cremated her body in the field without the presence of any family member. However police is claiming that they were given permission to cremate the body by the family members, where as family members are denying the same. The fact is her father and her cousin travelled in the car with police officer, and ambulance with dead body followed them. There is video circulating in the social media which shows family member arguing with police and telling them they will cremate her with all the rituals later, but police was insisting that they should adopt the change and do it now. And administrative officer later informed the family one person from family cam come with police for cremation.
As outrage mounted in social media, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said that strict action will be taken against the accused persons of this crime, and he spoke to family, promising them Rs 25 Lakh in compensation, a govt job for a family member as school teacher, a house and trial would be taken up in fast track court. The CM has also set up high powered 3 members Special Investigation team (SIT) led by Home Secretary to probe the rape and death of the Dalit teenager. The team has been asked to submit its report with in a weak.
If you consider the reality the fault lies in India’s caste system, where people from lower castes including Dalits are always at receiving end from the upper caste people, specially in interiors. The problem is that this caste base system also percolates to police departments across the country, and people from lower caste and Dalits never get proper help from the police. Secondly rape convictions remain low despite anti rape laws having been made stringent after the Nirbhaya case. But it is the police mind set which has to be changed, if country wants to achieve more convictions in rape trials. It is imperative that along with punishing the rape culprits, there is an urgent need to ensure that judiciary treat all citizens equally all the time. You will recall Bhanwari Devi’s rape case, where presiding judge remarked that “ an upper caste man could not have defiled himself by raping a lower caste woman.”
In an another news- it was foregone conclusion that after the SC gave the verdict that Babri Masjid was constructed after demolishing the temple, the verdict in the case of Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 will also goes along the same lines. But the fact remains that the Masjid was demolished by people in presence of many leaders of BJP and other Sangh parivar leaders. But CBI has failed to prove any charges against these leaders. The CBI court concluded that the accused persons like Ashok Singhal actually tried to stop the “ anti social elements” who brought down the Masjid. But the Masjid was demolished, and it was according to law was considered to be a criminal act. The CBI, then had charge sheeted leaders like LK Advani Murlai Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and other leaders of Ram Mandir agitation. It has been proven time and again that India’s record of prosecuting communal riots is very bad. Rarely the leaders who instigate the riots are prosecuted and convicted. Govt authorities always comment that law will take its course, and law is equal for everyone, which is actually a myth, when political are involved in crimes like riots etc.
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Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
1st October 2020