Kin of ‘rape victim’ allege police favouring accused

LUCKNOW : A day after a 19-year-old Dalit girl succumbed to injuries after allegedly being gang-raped by three men in Barabanki, her family members accused the police of siding with the accused.

“I saw my daughter lying in the fields, her clothes torn and nail marks all over her body. Police recorded all this, but is siding with the accused now,” alleged the father of the deceased who reached the farm to rescue her.

The incident occurred on Saturday evening in a village under Jaitpur police station of Barabanki. According to the girl’s family, she went to her farm in the evening where three men from a nearby village pulled her to a secluded place and gang-raped her.

At around 5pm, the accused left her bleeding in the field and fled the scene. She was rescued by her parents and other villagers and was rushed to a community health centre. Officials from local police station recorded her statement at the health centre before she succumbed to her injuries.

The fact that the girl had several external injuries on her body was corroborated by the post-mortem examination performed by a panel of doctors. The panel found over a dozen cuts on the upper body and neck.

The doctors have collected the swabs from her private organs and sent them to forensic laboratory to confirm rape. The postmortem examination was recorded on tape for future reference. The girl’s father claimed that police took ₹800 from them to cover the cost of the video recording.

Meanwhile, the local police have charged one Sunil Verma, who lives in the nearby village, under section 304 (attempt to murder). He was arrested and sent to prison on judicial custody.

The family members, on the other hand, allege that the girl in her statement had accused two other relatives of the accused who had not been arrested. “She took names of three people but the police only arrested Sunil. Also, they have only charged him for attempt to murder even after my daughter has died,” said the victim’s father.

Rebuffing the allegations, the police said that it were not favouring the accused. “We are still probing the case and looking into the role of others. More arrests will be made if needed,” said SP of Barabanki Satish Kumar.