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Shakuntala alleges political cover-up
WOMEN AND Child Development official Shakuntala Verma has alleged that the police had pressurised her to change her version, telling her not to mention child marriage in connection with the attack on her.
WOMEN AND Child Development official Shakuntala Verma has alleged that the police had pressurised her to change her version, telling her not to mention child marriage in connection with the attack on her.
Alleging a political cover-up in her assault, Verma maintained that the person with whom she had an heated argument in Bhangarh village near Dhar, while trying to stop child marriages there, is a BJP party worker.
She said it was possible that he was using his political connections to save himself.
Shakuntala had been attacked nearly a month ago in her house at Rajgarh, 60 km from Dhar, by unidentified assailants who had chopped off her hands. Initially, some state government officials had cited diverse reasons as the cause for the attack on her, including personal enmity.
Later, the government clarified that the attack had taken place in retaliation to Shakuntala’s efforts to stop child marriage in Bhangarh village.
But while Shakuntala was getting treated at the hospital, she told the media that personal enmity was indeed the cause behind the attack on her. Till date, the police is yet to come across conclusive evidence as to the identity of her assailant.
Today, Shakuntala told the Hindustan Times in her hospital room that the attack was motivated by her efforts to stop child marriage. She further said the State Government had not fulfilled its promise of paying the cost of her treatment which had gone up to Rs 5 lakh. She said her attempts to contact Dhar Collector D P Ahuja had not succeeded and that the hospital authorities were telling her to leave as she is fit.
But Shakuntala alleged that her left hand is still not working though there is some movement in the right hand. She insisted that Chhota Guda, the man who was arrested in connection with the attack on her, was not her assailant.
Recalling the incident, she said her room in Rajgarh was small. There had been no light that day and the small lighted bulb was on the invertor. “It was not possible for me to see the assailant’s face,” she said.
She added that her father and brother were no more and they have some ancestral property in Akola village,15 km from Agra in Uttar Pradesh. She denied any family dispute that could have led to the attack. A police team even went to the village and interrogated Shakuntala’s first cousin Dhram Veer Singh .
Shakuntala further said she is sad that the police was discrediting her by spreading all kinds of information. Even her daughter was not being spared. She said the if police is not able to nab the real culprit then they should not cast aspersions on her character.
Usha Chaudhry, her sister, said on June 2 a team comprising five police officers had grilled Shakuntala for at least five hours. That led to deterioration in her health and blood circulation in her left hand and she had to be operated upon on June 3.
She further said she is unable to comprehend the angle the police are tainkg. “On the one hand they say I have a good reputation in the village and people liked me. On the other hand they say that attack was due to personal enmity,” she said.
Meanwhile, highly placed sources say that Dhar Collector D P Ahuja has formed a five-member team to access her medical fitness after which only Shakuntala will be discharged from the hospital.
