Minor Dalit Girl Murder In MP: Family Alleged Caste Angle, But Police Say Her Very Own Kin Carried Out The Gruesome Act
In a dramatic twist to the gruesome murder of a 12-year-old Dalit girl in Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh, police investigations have established that the perpetrators were her own uncle and three real brothers, The New Indian Express reported.
The girl’s family alleged that she was gang-raped, beheaded and body dumped close to her village by a family belonging to the Kurmi community because of a land dispute.
The headless body of the minor girl was found close to Belakhedi village in Banda town of Sagar district at around 7 pm on Thursday (14 March), just around six-seven hours after her family reported that she had not returned from school since last Wednesday (13 March).
According to The New Indian Express report, a police investigation based on interrogation of the three arrested accused, including the murdered girl’s two brothers and uncle Banshilal, revealed that the girl wasn’t allowed to go to school on Wednesday, but was instead abducted by her eldest brother Ramlal and brought to uncle Banshilal’s house in the same Belakhedi village in Banda town of Sagar district.
The minor girl was first raped by her eldest brother aged 22 years, after which two other siblings aged 19 and 17 years also raped in turns. Subsequently, her uncle aged around 40 also raped the minor. The autopsy report of the girl’s body has revealed that the accused also did an unnatural sexual act with her.
After being gang-raped by her three brothers and uncle, the 12-year-old was beheaded by the accused with a sickle, as she threatened to report the matter to the police.
Investigations have also revealed that the eldest of the three brothers had raped his sister in the past also and threatened to kill her if she made the matter public.
According to Sagar district police superintendent Amit Sanghi, three of the four accused, including the deceased girl’s uncle and her two brothers have been arrested, while raids are being conducted to nab the prime accused who is her eldest brother.“We’ll also make the girl’s aunt accused in the case, as she helped the other accused in the crime,” said Sanghi.
In a similar case a few months ago (on 18 December), a 15- year-old Dalit girl, Sanjali, was set ablaze by two bike-borne men, in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh and died of burn injuries. Her own cousin brother, Yogesh, was later implicated for the murder.
Even before the investigations were completed, the Opposition parties had launched massive protests following the murder, some vehemently criticising the Yogi Adityanath-led state government.
Activists belonging to the Bhim Army of Chandrasekhar Azad took to the streets. Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had also declared that they will make Sanjali's killing an electoral issue. The two parties had also stalled Assembly proceedings. The murder, in the end, turned out to be a crime of passion committed over one-sided, unrequited romantic aspirations of the accused.