Kotkhai rape case: Australian woman starts online petition

At a time when angry protests against gory rape and murder of a school girl in Shimla district’s Kotkhai tehsil spilled over to roads, an Australian woman launched a online petition by the name, ‘16 year old girl gang-raped in Himachal: Stop rising drug and alcohol abuse in the state’.

Ruchika Chauhan, a Kotkhai resident settled in Melbourne. In the petition, Chauhan has questioned the safety of women in Himachal, besides demanding impartial probe to nab the real culprits.

“To lose a loved one is devastating. To lose a loved one to rape and murder is horrific. To be denied justice causes unimaginable pain” says the petition, which so far has received over 2,800 signatures in support.

Chauhan appreciated police

efforts to unravel the murder but simultaneously questioned investigations into murder that led to public outrage. “The police arrested six perpetrators, some allegedly drunk or drug-affected. Their ages are from 19 to 42. The locals believe they are not all the culprits,” says the petition.

It adds, “They believe some perpetrators from prosperous and affluent families are still walking free. In a country like India, where there’s widespread corruption, freedom can be bought. This incident is under active investigation, there is much we still do not know!”

The petition also raises concern about the rising the drug indolence, hooliganism abuse and alcoholism in the state.

“Kotkhai is a relatively affluent area, where apple orchards have brought individual prosperity to many. But affluence has been accompanied by rising indolence in the younger generation. Hooliganism, drug and alcohol abuse, drink-driving, fights; and now, rape and murder; is increasingly common,” wrote Ruchika.