Even as Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah hogged headlines with his comment on the six-year-old's rape asking "if it was the only news in the state?", two more heinous rape cases came to light on Tuesday.
In the first case, a 23-year-old mentally challenged woman, who was raped, was made to wait naked for three hours at a government hospital in Mysore before the doctor attended to her.
According to relatives of the victim, the doctors at the Cheluvamba hospital made her wait naked on a hospital bed for three hours. Repeated requests from family members to expedite the process allegedly had no impact on the hospital staff.
Sadly, women commission chairperson Manjula Manasa too dismissed the issue. "It is not a big issue. I have warned the hospital and told them to not repeat such things in future," she said. She also said that the woman was made to wait for half an hour because she was not cooperating with the doctors.
In another incident, a three-year-old girl, who had recently undergone a heart operation, was raped by the 15-year-old nephew of a gram panchayat member in a village, 40 kilometres from Bangalore. The alleged rape occurred four days ago, but the victim's parents discovered it only on Tuesday and lodged a complaint with the Bangalore rural police. Bangalore Rural Superintendent of Police Anupam Agarwal said the accused was absconding.
{{/usCountry}}In another incident, a three-year-old girl, who had recently undergone a heart operation, was raped by the 15-year-old nephew of a gram panchayat member in a village, 40 kilometres from Bangalore. The alleged rape occurred four days ago, but the victim's parents discovered it only on Tuesday and lodged a complaint with the Bangalore rural police. Bangalore Rural Superintendent of Police Anupam Agarwal said the accused was absconding.
{{/usCountry}}BJP leaders including former CMs BS Yeddyurappa and Jagadish Shettar, R Eshwarappa, and R Ashok led around 3,000 party workers in a demonstration against the rapes. They also demanded the resignation of state home minister K J George.
NHRC issues notice to govt
The NHRC on Tuesday asked the Karnataka government to send a report on the rape of the six-year-old.. "The commission has issued notice to the chief secretary, director general of police and district collector calling for a report within two weeks," NHRC said in a statement.