The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
2 months after being raped, tortured, minor Dalit girl dies
A 14-YEAR-OLD Dalit girl who was raped, tortured, and forced to drink a corrosive substance, allegedly by a man who had raped her earlier, died Sunday at Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh.
Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal, who had intervened in the case and got the girl shifted from Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital to Max Hospital, expressed her outrage on Twitter. “She died just now. Delhi again failed her Nirbhaya. She suffered so much pain. N her perpetrators were roaming free! When will this end? How long will Delhi’s girls be thrown to the wolves. This Nirbhaya was also raped by the system. Can anybody hear her scream?” Maliwal said in a series of tweets.
Maliwal, who met the girl’s family Sunday, said, “Safety of women is only being politicised in Delhi. I am saying this with folded hands that the Centre and the Delhi government will have to come together and work. We will all have to work together so that Delhi’s girls do not continue to suffer.”
The victim is survived by her parents, who work as safai karamcharis in a hospital, an elder sister and a younger brother.
Speaking to The Indian Express, the girl’s uncle said, “For two months she suffered everyday. She was forced to drink an acid-like substance after which she could not eat anything. Drinking water was also painful. She would vomit blood. Only one accused has been arrested while four are walking free. We want them to be arrested and punished.” He added that the girl was raped, tied with a rope and forced to drink the ‘corrosive substance’ by the accused.
The family also submitted videos of the girl to the police, in which she stated that there was a woman among the people who held her captive in a room, assaulted her and tied her down.
The DCW intervened in the case on July 15 after it learnt about the case through media reports, said an official. The commission had issued a notice to DCP (north) following which one accused was arrested.
“There are so many questions we can raise over the police action in this case? Why was the accused not arrested? Why was the Prevention of Atrocities Act not applied in this case?” said Maliwal. She tweeted, “To add insult to injury, Home Ministry scrapped Women Safety Sp. Task Force in Delhi set up wen Nirbhaya died stating it’s mandate finished!”
According to the victim’s complaint, she was kidnapped by the accused Shivshankar. Her hands and feet were tied and she was refused any food during the period.