While India Boils Over CAA, There Is No End To Gruesome Rape Cases

Over the past couple of weeks, the entire attention and collective imagination of the nation have been drawn to the outrage against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as protests and demonstrations are mounting across the country.

But that has not put a full stop to sexual violence and rape cases that continue to surface in equal numbers. This is happening at a time when all the four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya rape case have stated that they will soon file both the curative and mercy petitions.

On Tuesday, just a day before Christmas, Police in Bihar said that an eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped and killed by three minor boys in Bishunpur village in Bihar's Purnea district. Two of the accused, aged 14 and 16, were arrested on Monday evening, they said.

Search operations are currently underway to nab the third minor, Dhamdaha police station SHO Raj Kishore Sharma said.

The deceased's father in his complaint said the family members were alarmed as she did not return home till late in the night on Sunday after she went to watch television in the neighbourhood.

The girl's half-naked body was found soaked in blood near a shop at Bishunpur village chowk on Monday, Sharma said. The minor's body has been sent for post-mortem examination, he added.

Interestingly, this was happening at a time when a vast chunk of the Indian population was out on the streets protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Similarly, Odisha police have also stated that a minor girl was allegedly gang-raped by three persons in Odisha's Kandhamal district.

Based on a complaint filed by the girl, all three accused, including a minor boy, were apprehended in the case and produced before a local court, which remanded two of them in 14-day judicial custody.

The boy's matter was referred to Juvenile Justice Board by the court for further inquiry.

According to the girl's complaint, she was returning home after attending a local fete nearby, when the trio offered to accompany her. As they hailed from the same village that she did, the girl accepted the offer.

She was then allegedly taken to a secluded place and gang-raped. The police is reportedly waiting for the medical reports to arrive.

Meanwhile, a charge sheet has been filed in Puri district against six persons in another gangrape case.

Among those accused in the case is a dismissed police constable, Puri Superintendent of Police Uma Shankar Das said. The girl, in her complaint, said she was taken to police quarters in Puri on December 2 by the six accused, who then took turns to rape her.