30-Year-Old Woman, Gangraped 5 Years Ago, Says Panchayat Forcing Her To Leave Village

A 30-year-old woman from Beed district of Maharashtra, who was gang-raped in 2015, has claimed that her village panchayat has passed a resolution to banish her. She alleged that she is being forced to leave the place by the residents.

An official from local administration said that not only her village, which is located in Gevrai tehsil, but two adjoining villages have also passed resolutions to banish her.

Police said the woman has lodged a complaint against the villagers accusing them of using abusive language against her and they were probing it.

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The woman was sexually assaulted five years back when she had gone to a farm in the village to pluck cotton. Earlier this year, the court had sentenced four persons to life imprisonment for raping her, police said.

Talking to a new channel, the woman said a notice was pasted on the door of her house, asking her to leave the village. She also alleged that the villagers were threatening her. "The gram-sevak pasted a notice on the door of my house, in which I was asked to leave the village. A resolution was also passed to banish me from the village¡­," she said.

"The government should give justice to me. It should tell me where I should go," she said. Talking to PTI, block development officer Aniruddha Sanap said, "On August 15 this year, three villages passed resolutions to banish the woman. During our scrutiny, we found that these villages, located next to each other, passed the resolutions separately." "The woman alleged that the gram-sevak pasted a notice on her door asking her to leave the village. When we asked the gram-sevak about it, he said the notice was related to encroachment," he said.

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"We have submitted a report to our seniors and they will take further action in this case," Sanap added. When contacted, Beed Deputy Superintendent of Police Swapnil Rathod said, "The woman has also filed a complaint against some villagers for allegedly using abusive language against her. On Monday, some villagers approached us saying that we should not entertain her complaint."

"But it is not possible that we will not take cognizance of the complaint. We am investigating it," he added.

When asked about the decision to banish the woman, the village sarpanch said, "It was a demand of villagers and we acted accordingly by passing a resolution in August."