In a shocking report, a 16-year-old girl in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has reportedly committed suicide after being raped by two men. The girl, Kishori, first went to the village head to complain, but all they did was “slap” the perpetrators and let them walk away Scott-free.
A tweet shared by news Agency ANI on April 26, has left Indian tweeps angry about the lax attitude that many lawmakers seem to have towards rapes.
The incident took place in UP’s Aligarh district.
According to a report on Indian news website aajtak.com, Kishori, had gone to the community restroom in the morning, while returning the two men abducted and gang raped her.
By the time she went and told her family, the perpetrators and their friends had made plans to hush the matter, in a way that it would not become a police case.
Panchayat's verdict: 5 slaps each
A meeting was called with the panchayat (a village governing body). The village head and the members decided that it would be enough punishment for the men, if Kishori “gave them five slaps each with her shoe”.
Once this “verdict” was upheld, the depressed girl went home and hung herself.
When Kishori’s family reported the matter to the police, an FIR was lodged and the accused, arrested.
According to ANI: “The girl’s sister told police that a panchayat (village governing body) meeting was convened wherein the accused were slapped and let-off. After that, the girl went home and committed suicide.”
India has eased the coronavirus lockdown in some rural areas since Friday. But, even amid the strictest of lockdowns in the world, the country saw a spike in crimes against women. Even under lockdown, many rape cases were reported from across the country.
Indian social media users have shared these reports and said that the Indian government needs to take the statistics seriously and there should be me more urgent legal action when it comes to cases of crimes against women.
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Aligarh Superintendent of Police, Muniraj, said the rape victim committed suicide after the panchayat did not take any strict action against the accused. He added: “An FIR has been filed against the duo and the victim's body has been sent for autopsy.”
Like many others, tweep @ayushi_shukla_ was appalled at the decision of the panchayat members to let the rapists walk away. Pointing out that this old system of Panchayat governance needed to be amended, she posted: “The panchayat system needs serious amendments. The kind of orthodox mindset these panchayat members have, is just not acceptable. How could they just slap the rapists and send them home? Rape is a serious offence and the panchayats should not be given authority to pass judgements.”
She added that in this case the village head and other members of the governing body should be punished too. She wrote: “The accused as well as the panchayat members should be arrested asap and punished.”
@doley_anjan also said: “Panchayat members should be prosecuted along with the rapists in fast track court. How they can play the role of patrons for the rapists?”
An investigation in the case is underway and police said that action will be taken against the people who participated in the panchayat and they would be slapped with charges of abetment to suicide.
