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Humiliation by cops may have forced rape survivor’s father to kill self: Kin
The relative, a cousin of the deceased, said the girl was repeatedly asked objectionable questions at the hospital when she was sent for medical examination.
The father of a 13-year-old gang rape survivor who was killed after he was hit by a truck in Kanpur may have died by suicide due to police humiliation during the course of the probe, a relative said on Thursday.
The development came a day after the deceased’s brother, in an FIR, alleged that the incident was orchestrated by the accused – son of a local police officer and his friends.
The relative, a cousin of the deceased, said the girl was repeatedly asked objectionable questions at the hospital when she was sent for medical examination.
“Just imagine how one must have felt running from one hospital to another with police raising questions over the character of his daughter, that too in his presence,” the relative said.
It was the manner in which the cops dealt with the case that perhaps drove the father to take his life, the relative said. “He was so frustrated with the police that he committed suicide,” he added.
The family claimed that the questions were asked at health centres in two districts. The sub-inspectors and constables present on the spot did not care if their questions troubled the survivor’s father, he said.
The teen was reportedly sent for medical examination five times across various medical centres. “Have you ever heard a rape survivor being examined so many times,” the girl’s uncle said.
The relative further alleged that the teen and her family were kept at the police station all day and that the cops had refused to register a case initially.
“The police behaved strangely. They were indifferent towards the suffering of the girl and asked her all sorts of questions. She told me how she was humiliated,” he said.
Providing an account of the incident on Wednesday, a tea stall owner and two sanitation workers had told police that the deceased looked distressed and suddenly ran towards the truck.
Officials associated with the investigation said they were probing the abetment to suicide angle. “Several facts have come to light and they will be investigated. None will be spared,” Superintendent of police (Kanpur rural) Brijesh Srivastava said.
