Chhattisgarh: It took a suicide attempt by the grieving father of a rape victim, for cops to pay heed

Image Courtesy:forbes.com

A grieving father tried to kill himself on Tuesday, two months after his daughter died by suicide. The minor girl had been gang-raped allegedly by seven men, while they were at a wedding in Kondagaon district of Chhattisgarh, reported the Times of India. Her father couldn’t even get a first information report (FIR) registered as the first step to seek justice for his child. In desperation and grief he attempted to take his own life. He survived, and it was then that the local police were moved to react to the case. Bastar range IGP Sundarraj told TO that the girl’s body has been exhumed for an autopsy.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Yashwant Jain has also written to the Kondagaon SP, and sought action against the local police inspector for not registering an FIR earlier. The commission has asked for a detailed investigation report within 10 days stated the news report. The police on the other hand maintain that they had not been informed about the gangrape allegations. However TOI quotes sources in Kondagaon saying local police had promised her father that they would take action, but did nothing.

Bhim Army Chief, Chandra Shekhar Aazad, has also raised this issue over social media:

https://twitter.com/BhimArmyChief/status/1314162459985362944

रायपुर, छत्तीसगढ़ में एक किशोरी के साथ 07 दरिंदों ने गैंगरेप किया। मुंह खोलने पर हत्या की धमकी दी गई। पुलिस ने FIR दर्ज नहीं की। न्याय की उम्मीद टूटने पर पीड़िता ने आत्महत्या करके अपनी जान दे दी। पीड़िता के पिता ने भी आत्महत्या की कोशिश की। कड़ी कार्यवाही करें। @ChhattisgarhCMO
— Chandra Shekhar Aazad (@BhimArmyChief) October 8, 2020

Bastar police has now said five accused were arrested, after the FIR was registered on October 7, under sections 376(D), 306,201,34 IPC against the accused persons, “for abetment of suicide of the victim, who was sexually assaulted in Kanagaon village, where she went to attend her uncle’s marriage”

https://twitter.com/bastar_police/status/1314172134772469760

05 accused arrested in Odegaon incident of Kondagaon district. On 07/10/2020 FIR registered u/s 376(D), 306,201,34 IPC against the accused persons for abetment of suicide of the victim, who was sexually assaulted in Kanagaon village, where she went to attend her uncle’s marriage pic.twitter.com/flxhBBfbQP
— Bastar Police (@bastar_police) October 8, 2020

According to a late update by news agency ANI, the then Station House Officer (SHO) of Dhanora has been suspended for “negligence in registering the case of rape” and a departmental inquiry will be conducted against him.

The extensive report by TOI revealed how the poor father also attempted suicide “because he believed a case couldn’t be registered since two months have passed and his child is dead,”. However, he luckily survived, and the police woke up. Now as the media, and now the Bhim Army too took cognisance the police are expected to move ahead, according to news reports the FIR has been registered and attempts are being made to nab the seven accused. The men are said to be residing in villages adjoining the girl’s, around 190km from Raipur.

The TOI reported that the victim was about 16-17 years old and had gone to attend a relative’s wedding at a neighbouring village with family and friends “ she was enjoying a dance when two drunken youths spotted her,” stated the report, the two dragged her to a nearby forest, five other men came and the teenager “was raped for several hours,” TOI quoted IGP Sundarraj. The teenager told her friend “that the rapists threatened to kill her” if she spoke about the rape or complained to anyone. The accused reportedly brought her back to the wedding venue. The traumatised teenager hanged herself on July 20.

According to the IG the local police did investigate her suicide and asked family members to contact them in case they come to know what triggered it. The news report states that it was the victim’s friend who told the family about the gangrape days after she had died. The family did not know if a case could be registered even after the victim was dead. “In their ignorance of the law, the family didn’t get back to the police. After two months, her father also attempted suicide by consuming pesticide, but was saved by doctors,” IG Sundarraj told the TOI

However the TOI report also quoted Kondagaon SP Siddharth Tewari suggesting that the girl’s father was mentally ill, and that his suicide attempt had “nothing to do with girl’s suicide.” However, sources in Kondagaon said that after her suicide, the local police station inspector had assured that an FIR would be registered and asked the family to be prepared to record their statements. But police allegedly took no action on the promise.

As expected local Bharatiya Janata Party leaders aired their opinions on the Kondagaon gangrape. “Daughters in Chhattisgarh are not safe, right from Balrampur to Bastar. What kind of ‘Nava Chhattisgarh’ does the Congress government plan to create? They don’t even have words of consolation for the victims. The state government is busy playing political drama over the Hathras incident,” leader of opposition Dharamlal Kaushik was quoted by the news report.