Dalit minor rape case

The district police seem to be trying everything to quell snowballing of protests by parents and farmers demanding arrest of the third accused in the alleged rape of minor Dalit girl in Gandhar village of Muktsar district.

Perhaps, it's the reason that despite the parents and farmers detained from outside the residence of Paramraj Singh Umaranangal, inspector general of police (IGP), Bathinda Zone, police are not willing to reveal the location, where they have been kept.

As many as 11 protesters, including Bhola Singh, father of the victim, and 10 other women, including mother Charanjit Kaur, were picked by police while they were protesting outside the IGP residence.

Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Gurjit Singh Ramana said a meeting of protesters was fixed with Yurinder Singh Hayer, deputy inspector general (DIG) of police, Bathinda range, in this connection.

When contacted Hayer said none of the protesters came to meet him and claimed that they might have gone to the office of senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar.

However, Bhullar too denied to have met the protesters, stating that the matter did not fall in his jurisdiction so there was no relevance in him meeting the protesters.

He claimed that the protesters were detained at the Vardhman police post. However, Gurmail Singh, in charge of the Vardhman police post, denied the claim.

A police official on condition of anonymity said the detained protesters were taken to the Vardhman police post, but the police administration did not want to reveal it.

Meanwhile, 10 protesters, who were arrested on Monday, have been sent in judicial custody till June 2.

General secretary of the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union Lachhman Singh Sewewala, meanwhile, declared that the activists of his organisation and BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) would stage a protest outside the mini secretariat building on daily-basis and would court arrest.

Notably, the parents and the farmers are demanding arrest of the third accused, Gurlal Singh.

The protesters alleged that despite the accused being declared a proclaimed offender by the court, he was roaming free in the village and the Muktsar police were not arresting him.

The girl was allegedly raped by three persons of upper caste on January 24. Two of accused Manpreet Singh and Baljeet Singh have already been arrested.