Jyoshna Rani Das, a Dalit from Kanagali village under Erasama block in Jagatsinghpur district who was brutally assaulted at her village is yet to get justice even after one and a half months to the incident.
She had been attacked by six men including three women on May 13 following an altercation but till date the police have failed to arrest the culprits.
Reports said Das was plucking cashew nuts in her village when she was opposed but when she refused, she was attacked by the culprits, leaving her with severe fractures in backbone and hands. The victim was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital for treatment but considering her serious conditions, she was shifted to the SCB Medical College Hospital, Cuttack.
The victim tried to lodge an FIR with the Erasama police soon after the incident but the police refused to register a case. Consequently, the victim approached the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) seeking justice on May 20. At long last, the police registered a case after instruction from the SHRC against six accused persons under several sections of IPC and booked them under SC/ST [Prevention of Atrocities] Act 1989 on May 14 but the investigation is moving at a snail’s pace now, as the accused men are moving freely in village and forcing Das to withdraw the case.
Meanwhile, Das met the Additional Superintendent of Police on Saturday.
The ASP after interrogating her instructed furnishing the medical report and caste certificate for further probe in the case and assured that the culprits would be nabbed soon.
Since the investigations in cases under POA Act need to be completed within 30 days, the Investigation Officer [IO] must ensure that the witnesses be examined u/s 164 Crpc within the stipulated period. But here the police have not followed the guidelines.
Moreover, as per the rules under the Act, the cops should not hesitate to arrest the accused when they are likely to tamper with evidence by way of threatening or winning over the witnesses or terrorizing the complainant.
But in this case, the police have not acted promptly.
On the other hand, ASP SN Patnaik told several formalities are to be maintained before filing charge sheet in court. So we are gathering injury reports, FSL report and medical opinion etc, including examining witnesses and caste certificate submitted by the victim. The ASP, however, denied the charges that police were slowing down the investigation.