Churu Gangrape: Congress Government Owes Answer to Victims

New Delhi: "They came to my home that day and told her that it was her last day. I last saw her that day and found her in this situation." After a brief conversation, Kishan cuts the phone abruptly but his words reveal his ordeal. "They knew we were dalits and that's why they came after my family," said Kishan his voice breaking while speaking about the incident that sent shockwaves across the country.

Kishan's wife, in her statement in the First Information Report, alleged that she was kept illegally in police custody for almost seven days where six policemen, including the Station House Officer of Sardarsahar Police Station, not only gang-raped her but plucked out her toe nails and killed her brother-in-law in front of her. The local police had picked her up on July 3 after her brother-in-law was arrested in connection with a bike theft for which the case was registered six months ago.

She said the policemen not only drugged her but also threatened her to not to say a single word about the rape. "After taking me to the station, police started thrashing me. After 11 p.m, five-six policemen came in drunk, stripped and raped me. The men included the SHO. They didn’t listen to my pleas...They took my thumb impression on blank papers. They threatened me, saying that if I told anyone about what had happened, they would kill me. When I resisted their attempts to rape me, they said they would burn me by pouring petrol on me and gave me electric shocks,” Indian Express quoted the victim as saying.

Almost 200 kilometers away from Churu in Rajasthan, another victim who was gang-raped in Alwar in April this year still awaits justice. The victim was not only gang-raped in front of her husband but the accused also made a video of the entire incident and threatened to make it viral on social media if she did not give them the extortion money. It was only after a public uproar that the accused were arrested.

The two cases also bear a peculiar similarity in brutalities and police inaction. Political leaders and activists suggest that these cases cannot be outrightly rejected as mere law and order issues and expose the fault lines in the functioning of police and patronage by the ruling party. Bhanwar Lal Sharma, Congress MLA from Sardarsahar said no gangrape took place and the family is acting on some other person's behest.

Amra Ram of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) who met the victim’s family on Saturday said that Congress cannot run away from its responsibilities of ensuring justice to the victims. He said," At the outset, it is a vicious crime which must be condemned but the question must be asked from the Congress about its ambiguous treatment of these cases. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot himself holds the Home Ministry portfolio and the police goes on traumatise victims with impunity. How can someone kill someone in police custody, rape another victim and still they are not arrested. Even Congress MLA is making such statements despite case being crystal clear.”

When asked about the delay in judicial proceedings in the Alwar gangrape case, he said: “Most importantly, the victim family members kept pleading police about arresting the accused before they upload the video. The video was uploaded on social media and it was clear that the investigating officers were shielding the accused. The Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act clearly mandates that if investigating officers are found to be working in favour of the accused, they must be arrested too. But we see no action."

Dharamendra Jatav, a dalit activist told NewsClick that the policemen knew about victim family's vulnerabilities and connects it to upcoming local elections. He said," the murder of brother-in-law took place on July 7, and the first report emerged only on July 13. First, they took her to a local private hospital where doctors denied treatment given the severity of the crime. Then they approached, another local hospital which also refused to admit her. It was only after our intervention that she was admitted to government hospital in Jaipur. I only want to say that the mentality of the administration must change. The government cannot run away with its responsibilities by just handing out compensations and a government job. We see a casteist mindset in the functioning of police too and it must address it through police reforms."