Two Victims of Sexual Assault Commit Suicide in UP, When Will the Yogi Govt React?

It seems that BJP government's promise of ensuring protection, safety and security to women in Uttar Pradesh is all but rhetoric. Crime against women has gone up and police haven't been able to prevent that. 

As women continue to be the target of sexual violence, a trend seems to emerge in the city, which shows that frustrated at the denial of justice from the State police, the rape and gang-rape victims have started resorted to suicide. 

In last week alone two rape-victims, both minor, have committed suicide in Baghpat and Shahjahanpur. They were raped a few months ago and despite registration of police cases, the police gave the culprits clean chit in both the cases. This encouraged the culprits to sexually assault the victims once again. The shame and frustration drove both the victims to suicide. 

The victim from Shahajahanpur was a minor and a student of class XI. Her family which belonged to Fattepur Bujurg village, registered a complaint on October 11 against Naveen Kumar who was allegedly consistently stalking her. The alleged stalker's mother Veeravati and his uncle Rampal allegedly went to the victim's house and threatened them for filing a complaint to the police reportedly in full public view. Scared with the threats and stalking, the victim had stopped going to the school. 

According to the victim's brother the police failed to give confidence to the victim's family about the power of law in providing her security and safety. 

“We had to pay a heavy price for registering a police complaint. The police failed to provide safety to us. They did not take any action against the culprit. In fact, they let the tormentor of my sister go scot free the same day we registered a complaint. What else will it lead to if not confidence building of goons and criminals? The accused family came to our house and threatened us in front of the entire village. This made my sister hopeless and afraid that she may not get justice from the police,” the victim's brother told the media on Monday.  

After the threat to her family in full public view, the victim, a class XI student, closed her room and hanged herself from the ceiling fan. Her family alleged that even after the suicide the police had initially refused to file FIR against the culprit family.  This was the fourth such incident of death due to stalking in Bareilly region alone in the past three months. 

The police finally took action and arrested the stalker, his mother Veeravati and Rampal. “We have registered a FIR against Naveen Kumar, his mother Veeravati and Rampal. We have also booked them under sections 306 (abatement to suicide), 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC on Sunday night,” Manoj Yadav, the circle officer of Tilhar police station told NewsClick. 

Yadav also rejected allegation of inaction on part of the police. 

Similarly, the other minor victim from Baghpat hanged herself from the ceiling fan after receiving repeated threats from her alleged rapists who were earlier given clean chit from the police. 

After her suicide, last Saturday, all the five culprits who had sexually assaulted her in July, and had tried to molest her again on Friday in the Baghpat market, were arrested by the police. 

The victim, a student of standard ninth, who was "gang-raped" in July, was threatened and allegedly molested by the culprits in the market on Saturday, after which she came home and hanged herself from the ceiling fan. 

The suicide by the victim on Saturday, led to huge uproar and protests in the district after which the police had to act. The Investigative officer who was probing the gang-rape was suspended by the Baghpat SP.

According to parents of the victim, the culprits had started harassing her again and threatened her that they will rape her again if she complaints to police. Sonu, Monu, Rohit, Sagar and Pappu were arrested on Sunday.

“The fact that police did not take any action in the rape case we had registered in July, emboldened the accused. We had complained to the police, registered a FIR and named the accused as well. But police closed the case saying there was not sufficient evidence in the case. Why would my daughter kill herself is she was lying,” said the grieving father of the victim, who are residents of Kirthal village in Ramala area in Baghpat.

He alleged that the culprits managed to escape facing the law “using influence”, an allegation the police had rejected earlier.

But after the suicide, the Baghpat police swung into action and arrested the accused. “We probed the case and concluded that the accused should be arrested for the justice to take place in this case. We will present them in the court. The investigating officer who probed and closed the case due to insufficient evidence, has been suspended,” said Jai Prakash, the Superintendent of Police.

“The alleged rape case was registered in July. We have also filed a fresh FIR against the culprits and we are also conducting a probe into possible causes of the suicide,” he added.

The Additional Director General of Police (law and Order) Anand Kumar had strictly asked the district police to submit a report in two days.

And these are not the only cases. The list continues. On October another rape victim committed suicide attempt in Moradabad. She was hospitalised where her condition is said to be critical. One minor girl was gang-raped by six men in Hardoi district on October 14. 

The next day, on October 15, a group of men in a car kidnapped a 19-years-old girl from Agra express-way in Mathura while she was returning from her uncle's home. The men pulled her out of the auto when she was travelling with her mother and took her with them.

Importantly, the victim was allegedly sexually assaulted in July but no police action was taken. All that the police had to offer to her mother was a registration of a complaint and the assurance of an on-going investigation.  

Vinay Kumar Chauhan, the Deputy Superintendent of Police Mathura told the media that “We received the complaint. We examined the spot and our probe is underway.” 

When the victim's mother asked the police why there was no arrest on the first FIR of molestation, the police officer had no response.

In both the case which happened last Saturday and Sunday, the police woke up only after the victims committed suicide. It was almost as if the State police was waiting for the victims to take their own lives for them to arrest the culprits.