Badshahpur (Ghagga), December 27
A teenage victim of gang-rape committed suicide in Patiala’s Badshahpur village on Wednesday, allegedly after continuous harassment by the police and three accused. The Punjab Police has dismissed two officers, including an SHO and an ASI, and suspended a DSP after a preliminary probe and arrested the three accused.

Daljit (name changed) left behind a suicide note blaming three persons involved in her rape on December 13 for the extreme step. Her family says the police registered an FIR on November 27, but made no arrests until today. Instead, they would summon the girl to the police station at odd hours every other day and ask her uncomfortable questions, they said.

Yesterday afternoon, Daljit consumed a poisonous substance and died on the way to hospital. Her post-mortem was conducted today at the Civil Hospital in Samana.

In her complaint to the police, Daljit had alleged that Balwinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh kidnapped her from Badshahpur village on November 13 with the help of Chinder Kaur, the victim’s neighbour, and took her to Sandeep Singh’s farm and allegedly raped her there.

“The police registered an FIR, but no one was arrested till yesterday. Instead the police started harassing my daughter. She was summoned to the police station every second day,” said the victim’s mother.

The victim’s relatives alleged the police pressured them to cremate the body soon after the post-mortem. “Instead of treating us as victims, my family was treated as accused. The policemen threatened us to strike a compromise with the accused or face the consequences,” they said.

The Punjab Police dismissed Ghagga SHO Gurcharan Singh and Badshahpur police post in-charge ASI Naseeb Singh on the basis of a preliminary probe and suspended Patran DSP Harpreet Singh. The three accused have been arrested.

The deceased’s cousin Charanjit Kaur told The Tribune that they had approached Ghagga SHO Gurcharan Singh and Patran DSP Harpreet Singh in the matter, but got no help from them. “Instead, the SHO would send his uniformed men and ASI Naseeb Singh (Badshahpur police post in-charge) to our house at odd hours. They would take Daljit to the police station and ask her uncomfortable questions,” she alleged.

“After we lodged an FIR on November 27, the accused and the police openly began pressuring us to strike a compromise. They would enter our village at will and ensured that we lived in fear,” said Charanjit, tears rolling down her face.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has directed DGP Sumedh Singh to take immediate and strictest action against the guilty officers. He has also asked Patiala Zone IG Parmjit Singh Gill to conduct a thorough inquiry to fix the responsibility of the guilty officers and submit a report in one week.

Sources confirmed that SHO (Ghagga) Gurcharan Singh (now dismissed) kept his seniors in the dark about the case and did not inform the SSP and the Patiala IG of the case in the course of routine crime briefings marked to them.

“We will get a detailed report of an inquiry being conducted by SP (D) Pritpal Singh Thind in one week. And other officer found negligent in this case would not be spared,” Patiala Zone IG Paramjit Singh Gill said.

Terming the police action hollow, villagers who had gathered at the cremation ground said the action came too late. “The police should have acted when the girl was alive. What purpose do the arrests and dismissals serve now? Our village has lost a young girl who was first brutally raped and then let down by the system…” said Mukhtiar Singh of Badshahpur village. “She ran from pillar to post for justice, but in vain…”

Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh expressed shock and grief over the tragic rape of a girl and her subsequent suicide. He said it was shocking that such shameful incidents were taking place every day. "The way these incidents are taking place, the time is not too far when President's Rule will be the only option in Punjab," he said.