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23.05.2024
The Rajasthan Police Wednesday announced the constitution of a Special Investigation Team following the alleged rape and murder of a 11-year-old hearing and speech impaired tribal girl in Karauli, even as the girl’s father accused the police of not doing enough to nab the accused.
While the incident allegedly took place on May 9, the girl succumbed to her injuries in a Jaipur hospital 11 days later on Monday. The police have detained one accused so far and questioned “11-15 others”.
As per the FIR lodged at New Mandi police station in Karauli district on May 11, the incident took place on May 9. According to the complaint, the girl’s mother said her daughter was playing near their home around 10 am when she heard her screams and rushed out. “About 100 metres from home, I spotted her, without clothes, crying in pain. She can’t speak so through gestures she indicated that two people set her on fire and fled towards the railway line.”
The couple rushed her daughter to the government hospital which, after initial treatment, referred her to Jaipur. The FIR was lodged against unknown persons under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention of all).
Talking to The Indian Express, the girl’s father said, “Our only demand is that the accused should be arrested and hanged. One of them was identified by my daughter in her statement and the other accused can be identified through him. But when the police are not arresting him, how will they reach the other accused?”
He said he was so angry that on Monday “I left her dead body in Jaipur (and left for Karauli). I was so angry that I wanted to burn the man himself but I didn’t want to take the law in my hands and met the Superintendent of Police instead”.
The father alleged that his daughter died at 1.15 am on Monday, yet there were no doctors to attend to her and she was declared dead only around 7 am. “And we had informed the police at 6 am itself that she had died, but the police reached only at 3 pm and the body was given to us, after a post-mortem, after 7.30 pm. Their intention behind the delay was to prevent us from sitting on a protest,” he claimed.
“We were going to sit on a protest tomorrow (Thursday) but some newspapers incorrectly claimed that we want Rs 50 lakh compensation, a government job, etc, and the villagers thought we were doing it for the money. I have lost a daughter, will I ask for money from the government? We don’t want a single rupee, only justice,” he said.
The last rites were conducted on Tuesday. “The police came home and threatened and abused us. We have been told that if we hold a protest, we will be lodged in jail and a case will be lodged against us. We are being mentally tortured and the police have been instructed to not let us leave the village by any means,” the father claimed.
Denying the allegations, Karauli SP Brijesh Jyoti Upadhyay said, “Both the Inspector General (Rahul Prakash) and I have met the family and they have given a memorandum. We are taking every note from them. The police are taking this case very seriously.”
In her statement recorded under CrPC 161 on May 14, the girl did not take any names but after being shown 10-12 photos on mobile phone, she was able to identify one of them as an attacker. Her uncle, who was also present while her statement was being recorded, identified the person, a local, and shared his name too.
The SP said that an accused identified by the girl has been detained. “Prima facie, he is the owner of the agriculture field where the alleged crime took place. We are still confirming his role. We have questioned 11-15 suspects but no one has been arrested yet,” he said.
The team, which took down her statement, also noted that she understands sign language well. A video recording of her statement was also made and saved in a pen drive.
The father said, “We don’t know if she was raped. It is the medical report and the post-mortem which will answer that but we haven’t been given the copies. Her private parts were completely burnt so we suspect that she was raped.”
The SP said that although the FIR has no mention of rape and the girl too denied it in her statement, “we are taking the opinion of the FSL (forensic science laboratory) on this”.
On whether she was raped, IG Rahul Prakash too said, “It is a sensitive case and it will not be appropriate to comment on it yet. However, the FIR has no mention of such an allegation and her statement too does not mention anything like this.” He said that the girl’s family has been heard and considering the nature of the case, a special investigation team will be constituted.
The girl’s father lives on rent with his wife, mother, three daughters and a son and earns a meagre livelihood by selling milk from his two buffaloes. “I also send money for my younger unemployed brother who lives in the village,” he said.
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