Dalit woman kills herself after police refuses to lodge FIR on gang-rape
Police have booked three people, of which two of have been arrested. Two others have been booked for abetment to suicide of which one has been arrested.
A 32-year-old Dalit woman reportedly took her life by suicide on Friday morning in Narsinghpur district, 241 kilometres south-east of Bhopal, on being refused by police to lodge her first information report (FIR) about the crime, as per the complaints from her family members.
Police have booked three people, of which two of have been arrested. Two others have been booked for abetment to suicide of which one has been arrested. An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police has been suspended on the charge of dereliction of duty as he did not register a case and detained the family members of the accused, director-general of police (DGP), Madhya Pradesh, Vivek Johri said.
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The DGP said, “An FIR has also been lodged against the ASI of police for his alleged refusal to lodge the FIR.” The rape survivor and the accused are from the same village, Johri added.
According to Narsinghpur police, those arrested for gang-rape include Arvind and Anil while one Motilal was arrested for abetment to suicide. ASI Mishrilal was also arrested and was granted bail from the police station.
The woman’s husband said, “My wife was in an agriculture field to cut grass for cattle when the accused Arvind, Anil and one more gang-raped her on September 28. She told us about her ordeal in the evening. Along with some members of my family, I went to Gotitoria police outpost to lodge the FIR in the night itself. The police personnel on duty took the complaint from me but didn’t lodge the FIR. They told me that my wife’s medical examination will be conducted the next day”.
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He said, “When we went to the police outpost the next day the report was not lodged again. Fed up, we went to Cheechli police station to lodge the FIR but instead of listening to us, receiving our complaint and lodging the FIR, the police personnel locked me and my elder brother in the lockup at the police station and abused my wife. Mortified at the ill-treatment meted out to her, us and other members of the family, she committed suicide today by hanging herself”.
The sub-divisional officer of police (SDoP) Seetaram Yadav said, “The woman’s nieces who gave their statements to police said that the woman was not raped but molested. When they raised an alarm, the accused fled the spot. The woman and her husband did complain but their complaint was vague”.