M A I N   N E W S

Fortnight after Hisar gang rape, police yet to arrest key accused
Raman Mohan/TNS

Haryana’s shame Sept 9: A Dalit girl is allegedly gang-raped in Hisar. The accused, 12 in number, threaten the girl with dire consequences in case she approaches the police. Sept 17: Girl narrates the incident to her family. The next day, her father commits suicide by consuming pesticide. Incident triggers widespread outrage. Villagers back family, activists hold protest march Sept 22: The first arrest in the case is made. A suspect is arrested from a bus. Sept 23: The victim’s family gives the police the go-ahead to conduct the post-mortem of girl’s father Sept 24: Another accused is held.

Hisar, September 24
More than a fortnight after a teenaged Dailt girl was allegedly gang-raped in Dabra village, the police on Monday arrested a second accused in the case.

The first arrest was made on Saturday after the rape incident triggered an outrage in the area. Ten more accused are on the run.

The police is yet to reveal the identity of the person arrested today. The first accused landed in the police net, courtesy a vigilant teenaged girl of Dabra village. The girl, who was travelling in a bus, recognised a youth belonging to her village in the same bus as one of the suspects named in the case. She got down at her village and informed the sarpanch, who, in turn, immediately passed on the information to the police. The bus was stopped at Fountain Chowk here and the accused was nabbed.

The family of the victim gave the police the go-ahead to conduct a post-mortem of her father, who had committed suicide on coming to know about the incident, after five days. The incident has sparked a widespread outcry with a large number of women activists holding a candle-light march seeking arrest of the accused on Saturday.

Inspector General of Police (Hisar Range), AS Chawla, while explaining the delay in the postmortem, said under the rules, the body has to be identified by the next of kin of the deceased. In case, the identification is not done, the police has to wait for 72 hours for someone to come forward to identify the body.

He said there was a delay of two days in the postmortem keeping in view the sentiments of the victim’s family. “At times, we have to try to persuade the next of kin and respect the sentiments of the people to avoid giving any ugly turn to an already-volatile situation”, he said.

Chawla said the medical examination of the girl had not revealed the presence of semen, as it was conducted more than a week after the incident took place. “It was a broad daylight crime and after the arrest of the accused, an identification parade would be held and the victim could recognise the culprits”, he said.

About the failure of the police to arrest the remaining accused, the IGP said police teams had been sent to the neighbouring states where some of the suspects were believed to be hiding. “It is only a matter of time before they are caught,” he said.

Chawla said the police had not yet come across any MMS clip though the accused have reportedly threatened the girl that they would circulate the clip if she reported the matter to the police or her parents.

The victim had come to Hisar in a three-wheeler on September 9. She got down at a railway crossing near Kaimri Road to walk down to her maternal grandfather’s house. There a youth belonging to her village, identified as Mahendra, offered to drop her to her maternal grandfather’s house in Patel Nagar.

The girl alleged that she was forcibly taken to a secluded spot in the village where eight youths raped her.

She maintained that she was threatened that a video of the rape would be circulated if she reported the matter to the police or her family. Finding the girl depressed for several days, her mother questioned her. The girl broke down and and narrated the entire incident to her mother on September 17.

The girl’s mother informed her husband, a gardener. The girl’s father committed suicide the next day by consuming pesticide. Angry villagers rallied round the victim’s family and did not allow the police to conduct the postmortem examination.

However, they relented on Sunday after one of the accused was nabbed. The arrested youth has confessed to the crime and named another co-accused.

The district administration has promised a job to the victim’s brother. The family has been given financial assistance of Rs five lakh.