Dalit girl alleges gang-rape
POSTED ON DECEMBER 27, 2022
A Dalit girl in Gorakhpur has accused two men, including the village head, of gang-raping her.
She alleged that the incident took place on December 15 night and the cops were not registering her complaint. The local police, however, denied the allegations and claimed that a case of molestation had been registered against the accused while a cross-FIR had been registered against the girls’ family members for allegedly assaulting one of the accused.
The family of the girl said the case was registered a week later only after they approached ADG Zone Akhil Kumar, adding the local police were shielding the accused, who was reportedly close to the local MLA.
The girl from Pipraich area of Gorakhpur alleged that on December 15, she was sleeping in the house while her parents were away at work when the accused Pradeep Singh and Ashwani alias Vipul Singh, the head of the village, barged into the house.
The girl alleged the duo gagged her and raped her in turns. When the girl protested, both of them beat her up and threatened to kill her, she added.
The village head ran away after the sexual assault, while the girl’s grandmother, who was sleeping in another room, caught the other accused. The girl said after they raised an alarm, the locals rushed to the spot and thrashed the accused while she called the police.
She said the police arrived and took Ashwani alias Vipul Singh and asked her to come to the police station the next morning.
The girl said she reached the police station on December 16 and filed a complaint but the police refused to register the case. She said the police asked her to compromise with the accused, but she refused to do so.
Even after a week, when the police did not register the case, the family complained about it to the SSP and the ADG zone after which the police registered a case of molestation instead of gang-rape on December 22, the family said.
The next day on December 23, police booked a case against 12 people, including the father and brother of the girl, for assaulting the accused, the family said.
The family alleged that the police were shielding the accused under the pressure of Mahendra Pal Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Pipraich.
But MLA Mahendra Pal Singh said that all the allegations being levelled against him were wrong.
SP (North) Manoj Awasthi and SO Pipraich Suraj Singh ruled out gang-rape, saying the accused molested the girl.
Further investigations are on.
Courtesy : Daily pioneer
Note: This news piece was originally published in dailypioneer.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights.
