New Delhi: Seeking to avenge the alleged rape of his eight-month-old daughter, the father of the victim chopped off both hands of the accused youth before dumping him alive near a canal in Bathinda district of Punjab.
Parminder Singh, 25, approached the 17-year-old accused after he had appeared in a local court on Tuesday, charged with raping the minor in 2014. After the hearing was postponed, the father allegedly proposed a compromise, and later offered to drop the accused home on his motorbike, said police sources.
Both the accused and the father of the victim hailed from Kotli Ablu village. The incident happened during the ride back to the village together. Singh lured the teenager away from the court by offering him an out-of-court settlement, before tying him to a tree and cutting off both his hands.
“When they reached Jhumba village, Parminder Singh tied the teenager to a tree and attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon. Besides chopping off both his hands, he also inflicted injuries on the head and other parts of the body of the youth,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Bikramjit Singh told Gulf News.
Parminder had offered the accused a drink mixed with an intoxicant on the ride back. The victim was not in his senses when his hands were chopped off. A few villagers heard the juvenile’s cries and ran towards the canal. They found the victim bleeding profusely and rushed him to the Bathinda civil hospital.
His condition was reported to be critical. Dr Ajay Gupta, who treated the victim, said his hands were chopped off below the wrist and cops brought the limbs later.
A case of attempt to murder has been registered against the victim’s father, who fled after the incident.
In April 2014, the 17-year-old was allegedly caught red-handed by the rape victim’s mother, while raping their daughter. Police registered a rape case and the teen was sent to a juvenile remedial home pending a trial.
That incident prompted the government to toughen penalties for rapists and overhaul policing to better protect women and children.
