The brother of the 12-year-old Dalit girl, allegedly beaten to death for defecating in the open in Shivpuri district, has claimed that she was found dead with tattered clothes and a loose drawstring ( naada ), purportedly pointing to sexual assault at the time of the incident.
However, in the complaint filed with the police on September 25, which stated that even her 10-year-old nephew accompanying her was killed at the same time with lathis (sticks), he hadn’t make the allegation.
“My brain wasn’t working then. I was going mad as I had lost my son and sister,” says Bablu Valmik. “In such a situation, how do you expect me to think clearly?”
‘Ruled out’
Denying the claim, Deputy Collector Pallavi Vaidya said there had been no sexual assault on the girl and the post-mortem report was clear on this. “I myself have spoken to the doctor who conducted it, and it has been ruled out,” she added.
Furthermore, Mr. Valmik claimed the girl was sexually harassed a month ago by the accused brothers Hakim Singh Yadav and Rameshwar Yadav. “She went to my wife to talk about it, who’d kept it a secret. Two days ago, she came up to me and narrated everything,” said Mr. Valmik.
Although he’s informed the police about it, no complaint has been registered so far. “The ongoing investigation will make things clear,” said Ms. Vaidya.
To ward off possible intimidation from Yadavs, the dominant community in Bhavkhedi village, the police had deployed six-seven personnel for Mr. Valimik’s family, the only members of the Mehtar community there.
“Now, a cop accompanies us each time we go out to defecate,” said Mr. Valmik, still awaiting a toilet outside his family’s three ramshackle huts.
Sirsod Police Station’s Inspector R.S. Dhakad told The Hindu that tempers between communities hadn’t flared since the incident and the situation was normal.
*name of father changed
