M A I N   N E W S

Parliament panel visits two Haryana rape victims’ kin
Bijendra Ahlawat/TNS

A team of MPs comes out after meeting relatives of a rape victim in Jind’s Sachakhera village. Photo: Manoj Dhaka

Sachakhera/ Kalayat, Oct 17
An 11-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on SC/ST welfare today visited the families of rape victims in Sachakhera (Jind) and Kalayat (Kaithal) villages for a first-hand assessment of the security and problems being faced by them and review of action taken by the state. The panel promised strict punishment to the guilty.

Committee members observed that there was a sense of insecurity among the victims and their families and the measures taken by the authorities appeared inadequate. The committee would soon submit its report to Parliament.

The Sachakhera victim, a 16-year-old Dalit girl, had set herself afire after being allegedly gangraped by two youths on October 6. In the second incident, a 19-year-old Dailt girl was kidnapped and gang-raped by two men in Kalayat area of Kaithal district hours after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had met the family of the Sachakhera victim on October 9. She too had promised speedy prosecution of the accused.

“The victims and their families are worried about their safety. We found adequate scope of improving their security and will take action to ensure that. We will also talk to the state government to help the victims and take steps to prevent such incidents,” said D. Raja, a CPI MP and member of the committee, after visiting the Kalayat victim’s house.

Stating that the overall crime situation in the state had perhaps remain unchanged after 2010 when a young disabled girl and her father were burnt alive in Hisar’s Mirchpur village, it said a lot was still to be done to revive the security and confidence of the weaker section.

The team visited only two victims belonging to the SC community. When asked why, Raja said they had only been told of these two incidents and could visit more places if required.

The committee, headed by Trinamool MP Gobind Chander Naskar, also met senior Haryana Government officials at the Kaithal rest house. Other members of the committee included Mithilesh Kumar, Santosh Chaudhary, Ishwar Singh, Arjun Netpal and Thapar Chand Gehlot.

At Sachakhera, the delegation was unhappy with the delay in relief release for the family of eight and reportedly pulled up some officials. The girl’s father, a landless labourer, said no help had come in despite Sonia Gandhi’s visit. Officials that Rs 2.5 lakh relief had been given to the victims’ families recently.