Another gang rape-death of UP Dalit woman surfaces, in Balrampur, amid Hathras outrage

A 22-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped by two men in Balrampur Tuesday. Family alleges she had sustained broken bones, but police say there weren't any such injuries.

Representational image. | Photo: ANI

Lucknow: Amid outrage over the rape and assault case of a Dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh has reported a similar incident of crime in Balrampur.

On Tuesday, a 22-year-old Dalit woman succumbed to her injuries after she was allegedly gang-raped by two men.

The incident took place after she had left her home in the morning to get enrolled in a degree college in the district, according to the family. The accused allegedly abducted her on the way. After raping her, they sent her home in a rickshaw in a severely injured state, family members told the police.

According to the complaint, the woman was raped in a gruesome manner, which caused injuries, including broken bones in her legs and hip, leading to her death.

The Balampur police arrested both the accused — Shahid and Sahil — Wednesday after it registered an FIR on the basis of a written complaint by the victim’s family. Both the accused have been charged with gang rape and sent to jail, said inspector Kamlesh Kumar, the in-charge of Gaisari police station. The scene of the crime falls under this station’s jurisdiction.

According to police sources, the woman was raped near a grocery store, which the two accused run in the Gaisari area. They said police haven’t ruled out the possibility that the victim knew the accused before, but said it would be able to comment only after investigating the incident.

In a statement on Twitter, the police said efforts are on to secure a trial in a fast-track court. However, it stressed that the post mortem didn’t reveal fractures in the woman’s arms and legs.

थाना को0गैसड़ी में युवती के साथ सामुहिक दुष्कर्म व हत्या के प्रकरण में मृतका के भाई की तहरीर पर अभियोग पंजीकृत कर नामजद दोनों अभियुक्तों को गिरफ्तार कर लिया है । @Uppolice @dgpup @PrashantK_IPS90 @CMOfficeUP @UPGovt @InfoDeptUP @bstvlive @abpnewshindi @News18UP @DNHindi pic.twitter.com/l6Hkgjcyls

— BALRAMPUR POLICE (@balrampurpolice) September 30, 2020

The case details

According to Kumar, the woman’s brother, in his written complaint, said she had left her house in the morning for the degree college where she was to be admitted. Her parents began worrying when she didn’t return until evening and they couldn’t contact her.

At 7 pm, the victim reached home injured. She died on the way to the hospital.

Speaking to reporters in Balrampur, the woman’s mother alleged that her daughter was brutally raped after being injected. She was left at her house in a rickshaw after her hip and legs were broken. She was soaked in mud, and was unable to speak.

According to her mother, her last words were, “I am in a lot of pain, I will not survive now.”

However, Balrampur Superintendent of Police (SP) Dev Ranjan Verma denied the allegations that the victim’s hands, feet and hip were broken while talking to reporters. He said the post-mortem report didn’t confirm this.

Verma added that a team has been formed under the leadership of an additional SP, which is investigating the entire matter.

Cremation

The victim was cremated late Wednesday in the presence of some family members and the police, barely hours after the post-mortem report arrived.

Kumar said the victims’ family members performed her last rites of their own will.

This incident was reported immediately after the Hathras case triggered a row in UP over the hurried manner in which the administration forcibly cremated the body of the Dalit victim without the presence of her family.

Political questions

Late in the night, former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav targeted the Yogi Adityanath government over the matter. In a tweet, Yadav spoke about the Balrampur gang rape and paid condolences. He also asked the government to avoid a “Hathras-like cover up” and urged immediate action.

हाथरस के बाद अब बलरामपुर में भी एक बेटी के साथ सामूहिक बलात्कार और उत्पीड़न का घृणित अपराध हुआ है व घायलावस्था में पीड़िता की मृत्यु हो गयी है. श्रद्धांजलि!

भाजपा सरकार बलरामपुर में हाथरस जैसी लापरवाही व लीपापोती न करे और अपराधियों पर तत्काल कार्रवाई करे.#Balrampur#NoMoreBJP

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) September 30, 2020

Senior Congress leader Raj Babbar also tweeted about the incident.

“A beastly/ghastly act has been committed against a girl from Dalit society in Balrampur now. Similar incidents have also taken place in Azamgarh and Bulandshahr. In all cases, the victims are still waiting for justice. The BJP, which rode to power with the promise of women’s safety, has completely forgotten it now. What would compensation do in the wake of loss of lives of daughters?” he asked.

अब #Balrampur में भी दलित समाज की लड़की के साथ पाश्विक कृत्य किया गया है। ऐसी ही घटना आज़मगढ़ और बुलंदशहर में भी घटी है। हर मामले में पीड़िता को न्याय का इंतज़ार है। महिला सुरक्षा के वादे पर सत्ता में आई थी BJP पर उसे भुला दिया गया। बेटियों की जान के बदले मुआवज़े से क्या होगा ?

— Raj Babbar (@RajBabbarMP) September 30, 2020

Talking about the Hathras case Wednesday, CM Yogi Adityanath had said that the guilty won’t be spared. He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for strict action.