Kamal Nath stops eviction of gang rape survivor from house, to fund studies
The rape survivor’s father was allotted a house and shop in Indore, but the paper work for this was not complete, and after a change in government the IDA had moved to evict the family.
The family of an eight-year-old rape survivor can continue to retain their government house given to them last year. Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday ordered government officials to cancel an eviction notice sent to the family.

Government officials had earlier explained the decision by the Indore Development Authority to evict the girl’s family to the absence of proper paperwork by the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan regime.
But after this newspaper reported the move, Chief Minister Kamal Nath told bureaucrats to fix the paperwork rather than move them out from the house and shop given to the family.
The rape survivor’s father was allotted a house and shop in Indore, but the paperwork for this was not complete, and after a change in government, the IDA moved to evict the family.
Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja said: “Chief Minister Kamal Nath took cognizance of the Hindustan Times report. Along with allotment of a shop and a house, the CM also said he would bear all the expenses of education of the girl. The state government wouldn’t allow any kind of sufferings to the family of the victim.”
The 8-year-old survivor , now studying in class 3, was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped by two persons on June 26, 2018, in Mandsaur. After committing the crime, the accused slit her throat and left her to die. Locals found her in a pool of blood near her school and informed the police. She was treated in a government hospital in Indore for about five months. Both the accused were awarded death penalty in July 2018.
The gang-rape had provoked widespread outrage and was also seen as a reflection of the law and order situation in the state.
Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had responded to the mounting criticism with a rehabilitation package for the survivor, including the allotment of a house and a shop in Indore.
The Indore Development Authority provided a house to the family while the district administration provided a shop to the father . The girl and her two siblings were granted admission to a reputed school in Indore.
The father said, “I couldn’t able to sleep properly for the past few days due to uncertainty over the house and the shop. I am relieved now but hopefully this time I will get proper papers.”
Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who is member of Parliament from Indore, also talked to him over phone, the father added.
ABOUT THE AUTHORShruti TomarI have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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