Dalit girl raped, father threatened to withdraw complaint

“If you don’t withdraw your complaint, another Mirchpur will take place here,” Jats warned the father of a 16-year-old Dalit girl who was raped allegedly by the son of a sarpanch at Alewa in Haryana’s Jind district.

The panchayat members were referring to the 2010 incident in Mirchpur, Hisar, where Balmiki homes were torched and persons from the community burnt to death when a dog from their basti barked at drunken Jat men who were passing by. The case is being heard in the Supreme Court.

That incident was reportedly linked also to the frequent instances of

dabang (bully) Jat men raping low caste women.

Another rape case

Adding to the mounting number of caste rapes in Haryana, on September 25, the daughter of a labourer studying in Class 10 was raped allegedly by a 19-year-old youth, Kannu, while on her way home from school. Despite threats not to go public, she went home and told her mother.

Her father was not in town. He returned after five days when she told him about it and they went to the police station to report the matter. She was later subjected to medical examination.

The village with 9,000 votes is approximately made up of 300 Chamar houses and 800 Jat houses. Since the youth belongs to the dominant caste, villagers have not come forward to support the complainants. But the girl’s father is determined. “Nobody is supporting us, but we will not retract the complaint,” he told The Hindu over telephone via a mediator.

On Tuesday, the Superintendent of Police, Jind, visited their home and recorded written statements of all family members.

He told the family that the youth had been arrested and that the medical report confirmed abuse and a copy of the FIR would be sent to their home soon.

“We haven’t been given a copy of any document, we don’t know if the FIR has been lodged,” said the father, who is an unlettered man.

Meanwhile, local papers reported that the youth has been arrested and charged under Sections 342, 376, 506 of the IPC, Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and various Sections of the SC/ST (PoA) Act.