Threatened and hounded allegedly by the friends and relatives of the accused, a 36-year-old rape victim tried to end her life by consuming poison inside the Delhi High Court complex two days ago.
The ordeal of the victim began in October last when her husband’s friend Paramjeet took her to a house on the pretext of providing a job and allegedly raped her. “The accused, a small-time realtor, administered something to the victim rendering her unconscious. He then raped her. The woman was found dumped at Peeragarhi Chowk later and a case was registered at the Vijay Vihar police station on October 5. Paramjeet was arrested two days later and sent to jail,” recalled the victim’s maternal uncle.
But it was just a beginning of the victim’s suffering. First, her husband abandoned her and then the relatives of the accused began harassing her demanding that the case be withdrawn. “Soon after the arrest, Paramjeet’s relatives and his friends, one of them a small-time politician in Haryana, began pressuring her to withdraw the case. When she approached the police, they advised her to leave the Capital and stay with her relatives in Haryana. Her tormentors followed her to the new address in Panipat and continued to haunt her. Even the police in Panipat did not take any interest in the case when the victim and her mother approached them,” alleged the uncle.
On October 1, when the victim came to the Delhi High Court to attend a hearing on the bail application of the accused, a relative of the accused and his accomplices allegedly threatened her again. “She had told the authorities on several occasions that she was being harassed and that she wanted to end her life. On that day, she consumed poison inside the court complex. We rushed her to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital from where we later took her to a private hospital in Rohini. She was discharged today (Wednesday). But the police are yet to take any action against her tormentors,” said her uncle.
For their part, the police said the matter was under investigation. “We have received her complaint and are verifying the facts. The complainant has not provided us with the address of any of the accused,” said a police officer posted at the Tilak Nagar police station.
