Dalit Girl Gang Raped, Murdered, Body Hung From Tree Only Because Police Didn't Act Timely
The body of a 19-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree in Modasa Gujarat after she was allegedly gang-raped. The girl had gone missing on December 31 and her decomposed body was found on January 5. The family of the victim had initially refused to accept the body until the accused are arrested. Several Dalit groups also protested outside the police station demanding the arrest of those behind the rape and murder of the BA student.
Protests are simmering in Modasa, Gujarat after the body of a 19-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree after she was allegedly gang-raped. According to the family, the girl had gone missing on December 31 and her decomposed body was found hanging from a tree in Saira village of Modasa on January 5.
The family alleged that despite them filing a police complaint about kidnapping the cops did not act for days. A relative of the victim said the family had received a threat that the girl will be kidnapped, but even after this, the cops implied that she had eloped and claimed that she will return with a marriage certificate.
On Sunday the priest of a nearby temple spotted the body and informed the villagers who called the police.
The family of the victim had initially refused to accept the body until the accused are arrested. Several Dalit groups also protested outside the police station demanding the arrest of those behind the rape and murder of the BA student and demanded action against the police officials.
Following the protests police registered a case of kidnapping, gang rape and murder against four persons from the region under the provisions of IPC and Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Based on the family's statement the cops have named four men as accused in the case Bimal Bharvad, Darshan Bharvad, Satish Bharvad, and Jigar.
According to the FIR, the girl was last seen alive sitting inside an i20 car driven by Bimal. When confronted by the victim's family, Bimal reportedly told them that he had kidnapped her and that the family can do whatever they want to.
Even as the protests continue the cops are clueless about the four accused, who they say is on the run. Initial reports suggest that the girl died due to ¡°asphyxia as a result of hanging¡±. However, other details, including if she was raped, will be clear only once the postmortem report is out.
According to the recently released NCRB data, in 2018, Gujarat recorded a 16% rise in rape cases ¡ª reaching 553, from 477 in 2017. Sexual offences against children registered under the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act rose from 1,671 in 2017 to 2,127 in 2018 ¡ª a 28% jump.
Two Gujarat cities ¡ª Ahmedabad and Surat ¡ª got featured in the report which recorded 6.25% (from 64 to 68) and 43% (from 32 to 46) rise in rape cases, respectively.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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