7-yr-old Sultanpur rape victim’s family fighting ‘dual battle’
LUCKNOW : Even as the 7-year-old Sultanpur rape survivor is battling for life in KGMU here, her family is fighting two battles — one for saving their daughter and another to get the culprits punished.
While the police claim that they solved the case within 8 hours of the brutal rape on February 12 by arresting a 16-year-old boy for the rape, the victim’s family differs.
The survivor’s father, a Chinese food stall owner in Sultanpur (about 140 km from Lucknow), said: “After we found her injured in the neighborhood she said there were three persons who raped her.”
He said his daughter, a Class 1 student, was playing near his food stall like every day on February 12 when she suddenly disappeared. “I thought she might have gone home, but when I went back home I got to know about her disappearance. We immediately began a search and found her in an open plot, badly injured and screaming for help,” he said and added: “She could only say that there were three persons, before she fainted.”
The child’s father further said: “We informed the police but later they arrested a boy and said he is the lone culprit. We don’t know who did this but my daughter’s words that there were three persons are still echoing in my ears.”
Superintendent of police, Sultanpur, Shiv Hari Meena said, “We arrested a 16-year-old boy after proper investigation and will take the case to a fast track court so that the culprit is punished as soon as possible.”
Another cop, privy to the matter, said, “There was only person involved in the rape. Their (family’s) allegation is baseless.” However, the survivor’s mother said: “Why would my daughter lie? She did not name anyone, we are not blaming anyone.”
On the complaint of survivor’s father, police have also lodged a case of criminal intimidation against an unidentified person. “Her father said he was threatened to take the case back but
› The girl has critical injuries. The wall between her rectum and vagina had ruptured and a major surgery was conducted. We will perform another surgery A KGMU DOCTOR
could not produce evidence of threats. Still we are investigating this complaint too,” said a cop.
GRUESOME INJURIES
King George’s Medical University (KGMU) doctors said the girl has critical injuries. “The wall between her rectum and vagina had ruptured and a major surgery was conducted. We will perform another surgery,” said a doctor. The victim was admitted in Sultanpur hospital for a week and then rushed here after her health deteriorated. She was operated eight days after the incident and this is the reason why doctors have to perform two surgeries, he said.
“Had she been brought here within 24 hours of the incident, we would have needed only one surgery,” said Prof SN Kureel, HoD, paediatric surgery department, KGMU. “The girl will need several weeks to recover. Her treatment is free of cost,” he said.
He said there was no risk to her life and she may grow up as a normal child after a few weeks. “We are trying to give her the best treatment and hope she will recover and get back home soon. In such cases the patient should be brought to a specialized medical centre immediately,” said the doctor.
TRADER COMMUNITY TO PROTEST
In Lucknow, traders will stage a peaceful protest at Gandhi statue in Hazratganj on Saturday. Trader body state chief Sandeep Bansal said, “The rape survivor belongs to a lower middle class family. Despite their complaint about three culprits, police is trying to close the matter by arresting a juvenile. We demand a thorough probe into this case and will protest on Saturday for our demand.”