Calls of police apathy are growing louder in Rajasthan where a 14-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and killed and later burned in a coal furnace in Bhilwara district. Notably, a station house officer and the duty officer were suspended and two constables were taken off active duty after the Ashok Gehlot government faced opposition heat over the incident.
According to media reports, the girl’s family is angry with the local police who, they allege, did not take timely action. A cousin of the victim had reportedly gone to the local police station to file a missing person’s report when she did not return home from the field one evening.
The cousin told The Indian Express that he went to the police station with her Aadhaar and ration card on August 2 to lodge a missing person report when she did not return even by late evening but the police refused the file the report and asked for additional documents.
“I had taken her Aadhaar card and ration card. However, the police did not register our report and instead asked for proof of her age, her school certificates, marksheets and so on,” he told Express.
The victim’s uncle, a gram panchayat member, was quoted in the report saying that had the police acted upon their complaint instantly, the girl might have been alive or at least they would have got her body to perform last rites.
The area where the girl was burned in a coal furnace stands cordoned off five days after the girl’s bones and jewellery were recovered from the site.
The incident triggered widespread outrage and police, forensic teams as well as angry locals have been visiting the place regularly.
A team of BJP MPs also visited the site and said will prepare a report and submit it to BJP chief JP Nadda. BJP national secretary Alka Gurjar and Mahila Morcha state president Raksha Bhandari were accompanying the team.
AICC national secretary Dheeraj Gurjar, however, said no party should do politics in the name of getting the victim justice. He also announced that a compensation of Rs 53.50 lakh will be given to the victim's family by the government, political parties and social organisations. One member of the family would also be given a job on a contract basis.
Police have arrested Kalu (25), his brother Kanha Kalbeliya (21), Kalu's wife Lad alias Jiji (25), Pappu (35), Sanjay (20), Kamlesh (30) and Prabhu (40) in connection with the case. A married minor and a teenager have also been held. Police have also said they will file the charge sheet in the case within 15 days.
