The controversy surrounding the gang rape and murder of a Dalit woman in Sonepat has intensified, with more gory details of the crime emerging on Sunday. The Haryana police also came under a cloud, with relatives of the victim alleging that they had ignored a complaint lodged against the main suspect about three months ago.
An autopsy of the victim showed that the woman’s skull had been shattered, and sharp objects may have been inserted into her private parts. “The findings suggest that it was a brutal rape and murder,” said Dr SK Dhatterwal, head of the forensic medicine department at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak, where body’s post-mortem examination was conducted.
The 20-year-old woman was gang raped and killed in Haryana’s Rohtak allegedly by her jilted lover – also a Dalit – and his friend. They had smashed her face with a brick and run their car over the body to make it unidentifiable.
The suspects, Sumit (24) and Vikas (28), were later arrested by the Haryana police. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was also constituted to investigate the case.
“The victim’s family gave the names of six more people on Saturday. A supplementary statement of the relatives has been recorded to check if those named are actually involved. Of the six, five are relatives of Sumit – the primary suspect,” Sonepat superintendent of police Ashwin Shenvi said.
Incidentally, the victim’s relatives have alleged that police ignored a complaint lodged against Sumit much before the crime occurred. “We had approached police with a complaint of harassment against the main suspect a month ago, but no action was taken,” a relative of the victim told reporters in Sonepat.
The victim’s mother, who is still under trauma, also accused the police of not taking their complaint seriously. “He (Sumit) used to waylay my daughter and intimidate her with a pistol. Finally, she slapped him a few days ago out of exasperation. He said he will come back for revenge, which he did. Had police arrested Sumit when we lodged a complaint against him months ago, this would not have happened,” she said.
Shenvi, however, denied the charge. “Some time back, the victim and her mother told us that the main suspect was harassing her with demands of marriage. It was done verbally – there was no written complaint. Moreover, the two came down to the police station later to say that there was no need for police action because they had struck a compromise,” he said.
Inspector general (Rohtak range) Navdeep Virk echoed Shenvi’s claim, stating that they have not found any written complaint of the kind in their records.
ROHTAK GANG-RAPE AND MURDER CASE TO BE TRIED BY FAST TRACK COURT
The hearing of the brutal gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old Dalit woman in Sonipat will be conducted in a fast-track court, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Monday.
"Such kind of heinous crimes would not be tolerated at any cost in a civilised society and the guilty would be punished," he said.
The decomposed and mutilated body of the woman, who went missing from Sonipat on May 9 and was gang-raped and brutally murdered, was found near the Industrial Model Township in Urban Estate in Rohtak, on May 11. Stray dogs had bitten off the face and lower portion of her body.
The sheer brutality of the crime, reminiscent of the 'Nirbhaya' incident in Delhi which triggered nation-wide outrage, occurred barely a month after the BJP-led Haryana government launched 'Operation Durga' to stop harassment of women.
An autopsy of the victim had stated that the bones of the woman's skull were shattered into pieces and "some sharp-edged objects may have been inserted in her private parts".
"The findings suggest that it was a brutal rape and murder," said SK Dhatterwal, head of the department of forensic medicine at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak, who conducted the post-mortem examination.
Two persons, including the main accused Sumit, who is also a Dalit, have been arrested by the Haryana Police which has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case.
Police said the family of the victim have suspected the involvement of six more persons, out of whom five are related to the main accused.
The kin of the victim have also alleged that they had approached the Sonipat police about a month back with a complaint that Sumit was harassing their daughter, but there was no action.
The Chief Minister also promised strict action against those involved in the alleged rape of a 22-year-old woman at Gurgaon in the state.
The woman from Sikkim was allegedly raped by three men in a moving car and thrown out on a road in Delhi on Sunday.
