After three days of dilly-dallying and despite police trying to shield an influential criminal at Sakaria village in Mandasaur, a case of rape was registered against an upper- caste man of the village, on Tuesday.
At the same time, the police still refuses to apply attempt to murder on the culprit, even though the victim, who was burnt alive by the rapist, is struggling for her life at a hospital in Udaipur. Notably, the police made a u-turn on Tuesday and applied Section 376 of IPC (for rape) and Section 3 (1) (xi) of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, after denying for three days that any rape has been committed or that the victim belongs to the SC community.
The grotesque crime was committed on May 11, when the 14 year-old girl was raped by a local influential figure — Bhanu Pratap Singh. She was discovered with 80 per cent burn injuries at her house and was rushed to the district hospital. later, she was shifted to Udaipur in Rajasthan for further treatment.
The local police had, however, refused to register a case of rape or attempt to murder against the accused. Instead it applied Sections 341, 354 A and 506 of IPC on the basis of the declaration of the victim in front of the local tehsildar.
However, the victim’s mother alleges that her daughter was raped and then burnt alive by Bhanu Pratap Singh and also that the police are trying to protect the culprit as he is an influential man. Mandsaur Superintendent of Police (SP) MS Verma had earlier defended the police’s action saying that the case was registered on the basis of victim’s statement before the executive magistrate. Meanwhile, Mandsaur district Congress president Prakash Ratadiya has questioned the administration’s motive in sending the victim to Udaipur. “The police are trying to hush up the matter and that is why they have sent the victim to Udaipur on the pretext of treatment. Besides, no financial assistance has been provided to the victim’s family,” he added.