Rape in Faridabad: Rapes in Indian villages occur often having the consent or patronage of politicians or even the police force

Rapes occur often having the consent or patronage of politicians or even the police force. It is not just about condemning rape cases but challenging the very exploitative social order that breed it.

Harsh Thakor, Countercurrents.org, 4 January 2023 : An incident of a gruesome murder has come to the fore after the rape of a 7-year-old girl in Faridabad, Haryana. This case engulfs Ankhir village, where Ravinder alias Raja’s son Jai Prakash raped and murdered the daughter of a daily wage labourer family, Munni (name changed), living in a small rented room on December 27. Presently the police have arrested the accused.

The family members of the victim launched a protest under the banner of Krantikari Mazdoor Morcha demanding justice for the girl child and prosecution of the accused. On January 2, other labourers from Ankhir village and family members of the victim organized a rally to the DC office and handed over a memorandum of demands to the city magistrate.

The Krantikari Mazdoor Morcha demands that a compensation of Rs 20 lakh be given to the victim’s family and a hearing be held in a fast track court to obtain justice for the victim. It organised a protest in Faridabad.

According to the information received, the girl departed for school in the morning on the day of the incident. When the girl did not return home till 2 pm, the family members were anxious and started searching for her. Till evening the girl was found nowhere. The family lodged a written report of missing of their girl child at Ankhir police post on 27th December at 7:30 pm.

After registering the report, the family members started watching the recording of the CCTV installed in the village. It was investigated that the allegation Ravinder alias Raja caught Munni as soon as she left her house at 8.4 am and dragged her to his house. Information about the CCTV footage was immediately given to the police. After which the police arrested the accused on the basis of CCTV footage.

Naresh, who played an active role in organising the labourers in Faridabad, narrated that the family of the victim resided earlier on rent at Jai Prakash’s house earlier. Previously Ravinder had molested the girl. However the family members did not inform the police about this. Instead, they started living on rent somewhere else in the village itself.

After interrogating the accused Ravinder, the police discovered the mutilated body of the girl child from the Aravalli forests at 12 noon on 29th December.

The Revolutionary Labor Front persuaded the people in the village to participate in the protest for the justice of the girl child, but the powerful people of the village began threatening them. Unflinchingly members of the morcha organized a counter rally and handed over the memorandum of their demands to the City Magistrate in the absence of the DC.

Notable that all the claims of the Haryana government, which have been harping slogans of  ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’, are proving to be false. This is the second case of rape with a girl child in Faridabad in the last 5 months.

Earlier on August 2022, a case of murder came to the fore after the rape of a 12-year-old innocent Dalit girl living in Azad Nagar slum, who went to the railway line for defecation at 9 o’clock in the night. She was murdered by drug addicts after rape.

Rapes in villages are a routine occurrences in Indian villages. They often having the consent or patronage of politicians or even the police force. It is not just about condemning rape cases but challenging the very exploitative social order that breed it.

Harsh Thakor is freelance journalist who has studied social conditions in India