The Centre for Dalit Rights has demanded immediate arrest of three persons belonging to the dominant Rajput community who have been accused of raping a college-going Dalit girl while she was returning from the Independence Day function to her village at Neem Ka Thana in Sikar district of Rajasthan on August 15.
The local Dalit community has organised a series of demonstrations, meetings and dharnas in the region during the past week to protest against the failure of police to nab the culprits despite the FIR naming them. The accused, who were earlier roaming freely in the village, are now reportedly absconding.
A CDR fact-finding team, which visited Neem Ka Thana and the victim’s native village, Narsinghpuri, over the week-end, discovered that the perpetrators of the crime – who allegedly enjoyed political support – had terrorised the local residents and the police was reluctant to take action against them.
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“There is every possibility that that the matter would be hushed up under the political pressure and the Dalit girl would be deprived of justice,” said CDR chief patron and Supreme Court lawyer P.L. Mimroth in a memorandum submitted to Director-General of Police Harish Chandra Meena.
The three accused – identified by the 20-year-old victim as Bharat Singh, Gopi Chand and Moti Singh – waylaid her when she was returning from the Government Kamla Modi College at Neem Ka Thana to her village after attending the Independence Day function. They allegedly took her to a hut near a well in a nearby field and gang-raped her.
Following the registration of the FIR, the victim’s statement under Sec. 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code were recorded before a Judicial Magistrate on Friday, while the police were waiting for the Forensic Science Laboratory report after her medical examination.
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Mr. Mimroth pointed out that the powerful miscreants of dominant communities had earlier intimidated and sexually abused several young and minor girls in the region, but the police had always failed to take action in these cases: “In the instant matter, the administration has not paid the mandatory compensation under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, to the victim.”
The CDR demanded that the alleged offenders be arrested without delay and the Dalits in the backward region of Sikar district be provided with safety and protection in view of the fact that the dominant castes do not allow them to raise their voice against injustice and discrimination.