More than a fortnight after a teenager was allegedly drugged, abducted and gang-raped in Rewari, families of prime accused Nishu, his friend Manish and tube well room owner Deen Dayal on Friday came forward alleging frame-up and demanding an impartial probe.
Nishu’s father Rajesh Phogat claimed that his son was not present at the tube well at the time of incident.
‘Took full responsibility’
Rajesh alleged that Army jawan Pankaj had called up Nishu later and asked him to arrange a doctor for the victim.
He claimed that Pankaj came to their house a day after the incident, took full responsibility and told them that Nishu had no role to play in it.
“Nishu was our only hope after I lost my right leg in an accident seven years ago,” said Rajesh.
Showing a bunch of certificates, he said Nishu was a promising wrestler and had even participated in Haryana and national-level rural games.
“He took to wrestling at the age of nine and mostly stayed outside at Nidani and Mahavir Phogat’s akhara at Dadri. His medical examination for a job in Merchant Navy was scheduled for September 20. A few people in the village connived with the girl’s [victim] family to frame us,” the father alleged.
Stating that Nishu ran at Pankaj’s insistence, Rajesh said his son had told him about his whereabouts. He claimed he told the Special Investigation Team (SIT) about Nishu’s whereabouts on September 15, soon after it was constituted.
“I told them [the SIT] that he was at a sports academy in Rithal village and would call him, but the police insisted that they would arrest him,” he said, demanding an impartial probe into the matter.
Dayal’s aunt Phoolkor too claimed that he was not present in the village at the time of the incident and was arrested as an afterthought.
“He was sleeping in the house when the police came to arrest him. Had he been involved [in the crime], he would run away,” she argued.
Dayal’s wife Pooja claimed the family and relatives were regular visitors to the tube well room, but never noticed any immoral activity.
She also claimed that the key to the room was kept outside and anyone could access it.
“It is just a storeroom. The meat found in the refrigerator was for his pet Moti,” claimed Dayal’s nephew Billu.
Manish’s father Omprakash Yadav said Pankaj called his son to drop the teenager in the evening at Kinana bus stop, from where she was abducted.
“My son had no role in the entire incident, save for the fact that he dropped the teenager back. I met her family in the evening and the matter was sorted. But they registered a case later. My son has been framed due to political rivalry in the village,” alleged Omprakash.
He denied that Nishu and Manish were with Pankaj when he allegedly abducted the teenager.
His mother Silochna said Pankaj knew the victim’s father since he was a child but she did not know the relationship he shared with the teenager.
“He is a grown-up and married man. We have no knowledge about his relationships. But I have never visited the teenager’s family,” she claimed.
