Fatehabad, May 10
A 12-year-old girl who had lost her parents was married to a 35-year-old man by her uncle for getting a bride in exchange at Bothan village of Fatehabad.

The incident occurred a week back, but came to light today when the distraught girl was taken to a private doctor in Fatehabad with complaints of breathlessness.

Dr Dinesh Sanduja, who examined the girl, noticed that the disease appeared psychogenic as the girl was normal diagnostically. When he enquired from the girl, she narrated her ordeal.

She told him that her middle-aged uncle, who had deserted his wife, married her to a 35-year-old man from a village near Bhadra in Rajasthan in exchange for a bride from the groom’s family.

Dr Sanduja brought the matter to the notice of Usha Dahiya, woman activist and district president of the Mahila Congress, who in turn brought the matter to the notice of the police and the Child Marriage Prohibition Officer.

She took the girl to the General Hospital for medical examination and treatment. The police and the Child Marriage Prohibition Officer seemed to pass the buck as an FIR was not registered. The police said the place was not under their jurisdiction and hence, they were not in a position to act.

Dr Manav Sethi, Medical Officer in the emergency of the hospital, said the girl was hysterical and complaining of breathlessness when she was brought to the hospital. He said she was put on oxygen and intravenous drips.

Dahiya said the victim did not want to go to her uncle or in-laws. “She says her uncle beats her up and asks her to go to her in-laws, where she is subjected to physical and sexual assault,” Dahiya said. The girl said she wanted to study instead of going to her relatives.

Sirsa, May 10
Hundreds of women ransacked a liquor vend and blocked the Begu road of Sirsa for several hours today.

Women from nearby localities were agitating against the opening of the liquor vend and an ‘ahata’ (place for serving liquor) in an area from where girls have to pass to reach their school and college. The women went on rampage and damaged whatever came their way in the liquor shop.

The salesmen of the liquor shop escaped when they noticed infuriated women coming toward them, leaving the shop open.

After ransacking the shop, they came on the road and blocked vehicular traffic on the Sirsa-Bhadra road for over four hours.

“We have met the district authorities several times with our complaint that the liquor vend and ahata opened on the main road was causing nuisance in our locality. However, the authorities did not pay any heed to our grievance,” the protesters alleged.

The agitators said they would not tolerate any liquor shop between Shah Satnam Chowk and Nejia village and if the authorities tried to open any in the area, they would remove it forcibly.

They alleged that they had earlier submitted a memorandum to the district authorities in this regard and they were assured that the liquor shop would be removed soon, but nothing happened. When some mediapersons tried to film the action, they were chased away.

Some mediapersons approached the police with a complaint that their cameras had been damaged.

Later, Deputy Excuse and Taxation Commissioner RC Ranga accompanied by a police team arrived there and assured the protesters that the liquor shop would be removed soon.

Earlier, angry women had forced the authorities to close a liquor shop near Maharaja Agarsen Chowk in Sirsa on Thursday.

However, the shop was opened the very next day, forcing the women to hold demonstration outside the mini-secretariat yesterday. 

Jind, May 10
Residents of three villages laid a siege to the Julana police station for many hours and raised slogans against the police for allegedly protecting three persons involved in an attack on a farmer of Lajwana Khurd.

The police have registered an FIR against only one person.

Sources said after a dispute over agricultural land on April 30, Sukhbir along with three persons allegedly attacked his brother Jasvir, who was sleeping in his house. Jasvir has suffered injuries and has been lying unconscious in the PGI Rohtak.

The villagers alleged that no one had been arrested while the DSP (Headquarters) claimed that they had arrested Sukhbir and no one else was involved in the case.

“Four persons were involved in the attack, but no action has been taken against anyone,” alleged Balraj, a relative of Jasvir.

Many farmers alleged that some policemen had taken bribe from the accused while others alleged that the accused had been roaming free due to their political connections.

Jind DSP (H) Virender Singh Dalal, who met the villagers, said there was only one person involved in the case and he had been arrested. 

Sonepat, May 10
Ex-servicemen and widows today protested the alleged highhandedness of the local CSD canteen authorities. Protesters said they were harassment by imposing restrictions on their entry in the canteen.

On receiving information, BJP state vice-president Rajiv Jain reached the spot and assured them that he would write to the higher authorities of the CSD canteen about their problems and alleged misbehavior of the canteen staff.

Premvati of Rajpur village said as she was very old, she had brought her daughter-in-law to help her, but she was not allowed to enter the canteen. “Now, I have to return empty handed,” she added.

Mahabir of Gorad village said doctors had advised him not to wear shoes. He came to the canteen wearing chappals and he was not allowed to entre the canteen. Chander Singh, a disabled ex-serviceman, alleged that his son was not allowed to enter the canteen to help him in the purchase of grocery items.

Similar grievances were aired by Pratap Singh of Naya Bans village, Satbir Malik and others.

A protester alleged, “The canteen staff make sure that minimum grocery items are purchased from the canteen so that the remaining stock can be sold in the open market at higher rates.”

“Number of times, we are forced to sit outside the canteen for long in the scorching heat without any facility of a shed,” he said and added that they would raise the issue with the company Brigadier when he will visit the canteen on May 18.

The protesters also alleged that liquor was being sold in black from the canteen.

Despite all efforts, canteen manager could not be contacted as no one attended his official telephone number. 

Rewari, May 10
The seriousness of the district administration about the orders of Haryana Power Minister and local legislator Capt Ajay Singh Yadav can be gauged from the fact that no first information report (FIR) has been lodged with the police against a contractor even three weeks after an order by the minister in this regard.

Contractor Dharampal had laid a road in Jeewali Bazar, located in the heart of the town, which got damaged within a month, reportedly due to the use of substandard material. The minister had directed the authorities to recommend police action against the municipal council (MC) officials who were associated with the project.

The authorities have neither initiated a probe into the case to unearth the involvement of MC officials, nor begun the process of police action, causing resentment among the traders who had raised the issue and submitted a complaint against the contractor to the minister and the Deputy Commissioner (DC).

Though the authorities had taken samples of the construction material used and sent those to laboratories for quality test, reports on the samples were yet to be received. The officials concerned are keeping mum on the issue and trying to hide further information about the case.

After facing the wrath of traders, Capt Yadav had informed mediapersons that he directed the DC to get an FIR lodged against the contractor and the MC officials concerned so that no other one could dare to use poor quality material in laying roads and streets in the future.

“The minister had ordered the registration of an FIR against the contractor to pacify traders who were infuriated at that time over poor quality material used in laying the road, but no action had been taken in connection with the order,” the traders said.

They demanded that the minister should take action against the officials who were not following his order if he wanted action to be taken against the contractor, who was allegedly enjoying political connections. Capt Yadav and Rewari DC CJ Rajnikaanthan could not be contacted for comment.

Mitarpal, Station House Officer of the City police station, said no complaint had been received from the authorities against the contractor. MC Executive Officer SK Chauhan confirmed that no police action had been taken against the contractor and MC officials concerned yet. 

Hisar, May 10
National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) member Ishwar Singh today met the family members of the Dalit youth who was lynched by a group of villagers in Kalwas village yesterday.

Rajbir (40) was lynched and his cousin Ram Avtar (26) was injured when a group of villagers thrashed them for hours, mistaking them for poachers. They, residents of Gangwa village, reportedly went to the fields in Kalwas village yesterday afternoon to enquire about rates and availability of fodder for cattle.

The NCSC member assured the family that proper action would be taken against the accused. He went to the civil hospital to enquire about the condition of the injured.

INLD MP Ranbir Gangwa also met their families and demanded the arrest of the accused. He demanded a government job for a family member of the deceased.

Reports say Dalit organisations, including Human Right Law Network and many other organisations, held demonstrations in the town and demanded the arrest of the accused and adequate compensation for the families of the victims.

Rajat Kalsan, who heads the demonstration, said they submitted a memorandum of their demands to the Deputy Commissioner. He demanded Rs 25 lakh as compensation for the deceased’s family and Rs 5 lakh for the injured person.

Rohtak, May 10
Computer teachers serving at government schools across Haryana have decided to launch a stir to press for the fulfilment of their long-standing demands.

At a state-level protest rally organized here today, computer teachers warned the government that if their concerns were not addressed by June 1, they would stage a demonstration at Shiksha Sadan in Panchkula on June 2.

Teachers Welfare Association spokesperson Rashmi Sharma pointed out that 2,622 computer teachers had been recruited for government schools through three agencies under the outsourcing policy of the government.

“Since then, the agencies through which the computer teachers were recruited have been exploiting them on one pretext or the other,” she said.

“Teachers are sick of narrating their woes before various authorities. No concrete action has been taken till date to redress our grievances,” she added.

The main demand of teachers was a provision for direct employment with the state government and scrapping of recruiting companies.

The teachers demanded that the authorities should intervene to put an end to their harassment and exploitation, failing which they would launch a statewide stir.