M A I N   N E W S

Dabra gang rape
Notice to Haryana Chief Secy on acquittal of 4; DGP steps in too
Geetanjali Gayatri & Deepender Deswal/TNS

Chandigarh/Hisar, November 12
The Haryana Advocate General's (AG) office might have to reconsider its decision to reject the recommendation of an appeal against the acquittal of four accused in the Dabra gang rape case even as the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) served a notice to the Haryana Chief Secretary asking him to probe the circumstances leading to the acquittal.

The commission has also asked the government to challenge the acquittal in the high court, as the rape victim has cried foul over it. The commission has given the Haryana Government 15 days to file a report on its notice issued earlier this month. Chief Secretary PK Chaudhery, however, said he had not received the notice.

Haryana Director General of Police SN Vashistha has already approached the AG Office to press for an appeal against the acquittal. "We are in the process of sending a written request to the AG Office to reconsider its decision since there is sufficient ground for the same. The matter came to my notice only after going through a news story that said the AG Office was sitting over a recommendation for an appeal sent by the Hisar district administration. Four of the eight rape accused were let-off by the lower court. On inquiry, we found the AG Office had already turned down the appeal,” Vashistha said.

In a series titled ‘Scars of Dishonour’ carried in these columns, The Tribune had met victims and families of last year’s rape cases to highlight their struggle and plight. The teenaged Dalit girl from Dabra, gang raped on September 9 last year, had expressed her apprehension over the delay in deciding the fate of an appeal against the acquittal forwarded by the district administration. Stating that those acquitted belonged to influential upper caste families, she had her doubts over whether or not the AG Office would go in for an appeal.

The victim was abducted and gang raped while she was coming back from her relatives' place in Hisar. Her father committed suicide days after the incident after watching a video clip of the gang rape. The police then swung into action and registered a case.

Sources in the Hisar administration said they had made a strong case for an appeal by the AG Office, stating that the victim had identified all the accused, the chain of circumstances also pointed to the involvement of all those named and the four boys had run away together, proving they were together in the crime. However, the court had punished only two while the two others were acquitted.

Meanwhile, National Commission for Scheduled Castes zonal director Rajkumar Channena, confirming the serving of the notice to the government, said, “The acquittal of four persons raised doubts over the performance of the public prosecutor in the case. We have asked the government to probe whether or not there was laxity in pursuing the case in court, leading to the acquittal of four accused.”

AG Office in dock

• Sept 9, 2012: A Dalit teen abducted and gang-raped; accused film assault
• The upper-caste accused used to pressure her and her family not to complain against them or they would make the MMS public
• Days later, her father commits suicide, unable to bear the ignominy; police registers case
• May 2013: Trial court acquits six of the 10 accused
• Hisar district administration sends recommendation to AG’s Office to move HC against the acquittal, but no action taken
• DGP approaches AG Office to press for an appeal against the acquittal of four accused