Banda abounds in hundred of rape case, but all the rape victims are not lucky as the Banda rape.
The family members of several rape victims are still awaiting justice though they have registered complaint in the police station and informed the senior police officers about the kidnapping and sexual exploitation of the girls.
Under the pressure of the local strongmen including politicians, landlords and contractors the cops not only remained mute spectator to the atrocities but also helped the accused to get free of the charges.
Kela a resident of Neduwa village located 70 km from south of Banda says in May, 2005 some influential people kidnapped his wife Maya. "I informed the in-charge of the Naraini police station the name of the kidnappers instead of helping me the police officers pushed me outside the police station. He told me to return to the village else the dabaangs would kill me" he said.
A desperate Kela launched search for his wife. I visited the house of the landlord Raju Singh and begged him to hand over my wife, but in vain. “The musclemen of the landlord beat me up mercilessly. I was told to keep my mouth shut. I returned home and prayed to god for the safety of my wife”, he said.
Hardly a year had passed the strongmen struck again and kidnapped his 14 years old daughter Meenu in 2006. "The villagers Chunna and Kamlesh saw the kidnappers taking away Meenu in a vehicle. Kela along with the eye witness went to the police station to lodge complaint against the kidnappers again he was rebuked by the in-charge of the police station. "The cops refused to register FIR" he said.
{{/usCountry}}Hardly a year had passed the strongmen struck again and kidnapped his 14 years old daughter Meenu in 2006. "The villagers Chunna and Kamlesh saw the kidnappers taking away Meenu in a vehicle. Kela along with the eye witness went to the police station to lodge complaint against the kidnappers again he was rebuked by the in-charge of the police station. "The cops refused to register FIR" he said.
{{/usCountry}}"I met the then district magistrate and superintendent of police and told them about the plight of my wife and daughter. The district administration officers assured justice but no action was taken against the kidnappers. Fours years had passed but there is no trace of my wife and daughter while the kidnappers are roaming free", Kela said.
The daughter of Dildan Pathan was raped by to influential people in Nagwa village two months back. Pathan lodged a complaint in the police station. The police officers put pressure on him to withdraw the complaint as the rapist belonged to influential family. Later the dead body of one of the rapist was found lying in the field. Pathan and his three sons were taken into custody by the cops on the charge of killing the rapist.
A deaf and dumb girl Neelam (name changed) was raped in Chitragokulpur village on January 13. Her father Buluwa informed the cops that Jalandhar Singh a businessman kidnapped Neelam and raped her.The cops neither ordered for medical examination of the victim nor registered FIR in the rape case.
A student of Bundelkhand University, Priyanka Namdev was kidnapped, raped and killed by the rapist. Her father Ramsharan Namdev a native of Sarila village in Hamirpur district registered FIR in the police station. During investigation it was found that in-charge of Chirgaon police station Umakant Deepak was involved in kidnapping. Yet no action had been taken against the cop.
Lachiya of Kartal, Sangeeta of Kolawal and Priya of Mahuta village were kidnapped and raped. No action had been taken against the accused though FIR had been registered in the police station.
Ram Ratan Sharma a senior lawyer in Banda district court says large number of girls and women belonging to poor family have been kidnapped by the dabaangs in this region. "To ensure that the rape victim gets justice the state government should establish a fast track court here. In majority of the cases the administration has helped the accused rather than the victim", he said.
The president of gulabi gang, Sampat Pal who has been fighting for the rights of the women says there are cases that the family members killed the rape victim as she was considered blot on the family. A social activist Raja said the dabaangs often sale the poor girls after sexually exploiting her.