Victim of the heinous rape and murder that occurred on Sept 10 has not yet been identified
In what can only be defined as ‘mockery of law and order’, Sultanpur SP Himanshu Kumar received an ‘appreciation letter’ from the police headquarters in Uttar Pradesh. Himanshu Kumar is the investigating officer of the grievous rape and murder of a young girl in Sultanpur.
The mutilated body of the girl was found disrobed and hung from a tree in Dubepur’s Baijapur village in the early hours of September 10. Today, even after 20 days of the incident, the police have made no progress, neither in identifying the victim nor the suspects.
The SP and his team have been on record to say that the victim died of strangulation, whereas it is clear from the post-mortem report and the accounts of the villagers who saw her first, that the girl suffered from unspeakable torture and gendered violence at the hands of her perpetrators. Why the appreciation letter to someone who has been trying to cover up a crime akin to the Nirbhaya and Badaun incidents, is a very pertinent question.
Though the appreciation letter has been ostensibly sent for a different case, it has come at a very inappropriate time. From June 10 to September 15, there have been reports of 18 deaths, a dozen misdemeanours and robberies and a spate of orphaned dead bodies; crimes all of which have gone unsolved by SP Himanshu Kumar. The people of the district are reportedly furious with the failed and irresponsible policing in the area. To be “appreciated” from headquarters, at such a time not only makes a mockery of the idea of the rule of law and “democracy”, but also undermines the women victims, bereft of justice at the hands of this failed policing.
This condemnable move will not be able to hide the intensity of the abuse suffered by the young girl. No matter how much the police tries to cover it up, the people will hold them accountable for every passing day lost in the investigation.
It is true that the criminals have shamed humanity by executing the Baijapur incident, but the police have even more so disgraced it by hiding the inhumanity of the crime and sparing the criminals of their actions.
Related Articles:
1. Mutilated body of girl found hanging from tree in Sultanpur, Badaun 2.0?
2. Over a fortnight, no arrests: Activists protest ‘police inaction’ in Sultanpur rape case: UP
2. सुल्तानपुर के निर्भया कांड पर डी जी से मिलने पहुंचा महिला संगठन का प्रतिनिधि मंडल, नहीं मिले