A 9-Year Old Dalit Girl Gang Rape Case – Murdered, and Cremated Immediately
Another tragic incident similar to the Hathras gang rape case was reported on August 1st, 2021 near South West Delhi. A nine-year-old Dalit girl was gang-raped, murdered, and cremated by the accused rapists near the Old Nangal village in the Delhi Cantonment area.
Background
On Sunday, 1st August 2021, the minor girl was playing outside when her mother asked her to bring cold water from the water cooler in the crematorium. The girl was more interested in going to the Peer Baba Dargah to play. After insisting a lot, finally, her mother was able to convince her to get cold water from the crematorium’s water cooler. The crematorium is at a 5 minutes distance from her home and the minor girl left around 5.30 pm on Sunday to get water for her family.
Little did the parents know that it would be the last time they’ll see their daughter alive and happy.
It was the father who had dropped her at the crematorium to collect cold water before he left to buy vegetables from the local market. He had planned to pick her from the crematorium while returning from the market.
Thirty minutes after they departed from home, Radhey Shyam, the priest of the crematorium called for the girl’s mother to the crematorium. Not knowing the ugly and bitter truth, she reached the destination, where she found her only daughter lying on the floor lifeless. The priest and 2-3 other men, whom the family knew, explained that her daughter died because of being electrocuted by the water cooler while she was filling water from it.
Taking advantage of the situation the priest and other men suggested mother cremate the body as soon as possible before the police start investigating. They threatened her if the body was sent for post-mortem her daughter’s organs would go missing. They immediately started collecting logs to initiate the cremation procedure.
Looking at the priest rushing to cremate the body without registering her daughter’s name or not even asking for Adhaar’s card number, the victim’s mother reacted. She immediately called for help by rushing to the Old Nangal Village area where they stayed and informed the victim’s father and few villagers. Along with parents, 200 more villagers gathered in the crematorium.
By the time the whole bunch of villagers along with parents reached, the body was already lying on the pyre. The body was immediately removed by the villagers. It was only then that mother got suspicious against the priest Radhey Shyam and the other three men who were rushing to cremate her daughter’s body.
According to the mother, when she had seen her daughter lying down on the floor, her lips were black, and there were bruises. Parents and villagers immediately reported to the police about the situation who reached the incident locations around 10.30 pm. The cops arrested the priest and other accused men, whom the parents had identified. However, the police left out certain important facts.
Harassment for Parents
The villagers and family accused the police of trying to close the case as soon as possible by ignoring certain important facts. The parents also claimed that during the investigation they were harassed by the police and told to close the case and not get into too much trouble. DCP of South West stated that strict actions will be taken against those cops who have tried to hide facts. During all the chaos only the girl’s legs and her body ashes were left because the cremation procedure had started before the victim’s mother could react and take action.
It is said that even though the mother was in shock, she could still spot some suspicious marks on her daughter’s body. Upon inquiring, the priest told her that those were marks due to electrocution. The victim’s mother stated her daughter’s lips were blue, blood was coming out of her nose and there were burnt marks on her body.
The victim’s parents were called to the police station and were made to stay there entire night. They were allowed to leave the next day early morning. The victim’s parents stated that the police were forcing them to close the case and to maintain the family’s dignity by removing rape charges.
Suspects
The parents filed a case against four suspects who were present in the crematorium when the victim’s mother reached the crime scene.
- Radhey Shyam, the priest of the crematorium.
- Laxmi Narayan
- Kuldip co-worker at the crematorium
- Salim resident of the Old Nangal village area, who was known to the victim’s family.
The victim’s family has requested the death penalty for the four suspects. The Dalit family, their relatives along with few villagers are protesting since Monday morning against the cruelty imposed on their 9-yr old daughter. Very soon the Delhi Chief Minister, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal will be meeting them personally.
Charges Against the Four Accused Men
The four accused rapists have been charged with
- Rape under Section 376 of the IPC.
- Murder under Section 302 of the IPC.
- Criminal intimidation under Section 506 of the IPC.
- Destroying evidence under Section 204 of the IPC.
However, the police had initially only filed a case to press charges of homicide, wrongful confinement, and destruction of evidence. The police stated that the mother nowhere mentioned sexual assault in her statement. After the protest held by the Dalit family and villagers on Monday morning and the statement they gave to the STSC Commission, rape charges were also added against the accused. The SC/ST Act and Protection from Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was also added later.
It is said that the officer in Delhi Cantonment Police Station tried to wrap the case without adding rape charges in it. They paid no heed to the victim’s family’s allegations. The family constantly accused the four men of raping their 9-yr old daughter, but the police were more interested in closing the case before the next sunrise.
Hathras Gang Rape Case – Similarity
Another Dalit girl was a victim of the cruelty of the upper class. A similar case was seen last year on 14 September 2020, when a 19-year old Dalit girl was gang-raped by upper-caste four men. The victim had gone to the farm to collect cattle fodder, when four men from Thakur caste Sandip, Ramu, Lavkush, and Ravi dragged her by the dupatta entangled around her neck. During the struggle, she also injured her spinal cord which left her paralyzed. During the struggle to save herself from the rapists, she bit her tongue so hard that it got cut off.
The story is similar to the current incident. Soon after the victim’s mother found her injured and sexually assaulted daughter lying in the field, she rushed to the nearest police station. There again the Dalit family was harassed and police paid no heed to their appeal. It was after 6 days of the incident that the police filed a complaint. With the severe injury to the spinal cord, the victim didn’t survive for long. She took her last breath in Safdarjung Hospital on 29th September 2020.
Again, another daughter was cremated without the family’s consent. However, in this incident, it was not the accused but the Uttar Pradesh Police who cremated the victim’s body without the family’s consent. Just like today’s Delhi Cantt gang rape case, in the Hathras case, the family was harassed by the police as well as the two accused men for two whole months.
Soon after the Delhi Cantt, gang rape case caught the public’s attention, several netizens commented on Twitter expressing their condolence for the little girl. A heat has raged among Delhi locals, as they feel one of their own families is again exploited.
Sources