Father of gangrape victim dies allegedly by suicide in Hamirpur

‘From Unnao, Hathras to Kanpur wherever women were tortured, their families also being destroyed,’ Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, calling U.P a ‘jungle raj’

The father of a gangrape victim has died allegedly under mysterious circumstances in Hamirpur, the police said on Thursday.

“On March 6, in village Khara, under the limits of Sisolar Police Station, information was received regarding death of a 50-year-old Rakesh Nishad. Local police officials reached the spot and post mortem is conducted. We are initiating necessary action on the basis of the complaint,” Deeksha Sharma, Superintendent of Police (SP), Hamirpur, said.

The minor girls, aged 14 and 16 years, were found hanging from a tree in a field a week ago, after they were gangraped allegedly at a brick kiln in Kanpur’s Ghatampur locality. Family members have alleged the girls were gangraped after being forced to consume liquor.

All three accused named in the FIR pertaining to the gangrapes were arrested by the U.P. Police under multiple Sections of the Indian Penal Code. Locals alleged that the deceased was under pressure to withdraw the complaint in the gangrape case, and had committed suicide. A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered on the complaint of the deceased’s son, who has alleged that the wife and daughter of the accused in the gangrape case were pressurising his father to withdraw the complaint, which motivated him to commit suicide. 

Opposition leaders in U.P. targeted the State government over the incident. “Two minor girls, victims of gang rape, committed suicide in Kanpur. Now the father of those girls has also committed suicide. It is alleged that pressure was being put on the victim’s family to compromise. In Uttar Pradesh, if victimized girls and women ask for justice, it has become a rule to destroy their families. From Unnao, Hathras to Kanpur wherever women were tortured, their families also being destroyed. Being a woman has become a crime in this jungle raj where there is no such thing as law left. After all, what should crores of women of the state do, where should they go,” asked Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on social media platform X.

Those who require assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts may contact Sanjivini, Society for Mental Health suicide prevention helpline 011-4076 9002 (10 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., Monday-Saturday).