Modasa: Dalit girl was gang-raped and was hanged, villagers rise up in protest, demands for justice

After the body
of a 19-year-old Dalit girl, who was allegedly kidnapped, gang-raped and
murdered, was found hanging from a tree near a village of Modasa in north
Gujarat on 5 January, hundreds of residents crowded the Ahmedabad civil
hospital demanding the arrest of the culprits and suspension of the police
officer on duty.

A panel of
doctors at the Ahmedabad civil hospital on 8 January conducted the postmortem
after the police lodged a case of kidnapping, gangrape and murder against four
people.

According to
sources, the four accused had allegedly kidnapped the victim and gang-raped her
before killing her. After murdering the victim, the perpetrators hanged her
body from a tree to make it appear like a case of suicide.

The victim
had gone missing on 31 December, 2019, after which her family approached the
police on 1 January to lodge an FIR but, the local police refused.

The girl’s
aunt as said, “When she went missing, her father went to file a complaint,
but the police did not accept it. They did not file the rape FIR till two days
after the body was found.”

According to
the report, on 3 January, police inspector at the Modasa police station NK
Rabari informed the family that the girl had married a man from the same
community and would come back.

However, the
next day, Rabari refused to register a case saying that he didn’t have any
jurisdiction in the matter. He further asked the family to approach Sabalpur
police station.

On 5
January, the victim’s body was found hanging from a tree.

Her family
members refused to accept the body, claiming that it was a murder and not a
suicide, sources reported.

The police
registered an FIR on 7 January naming four people – Bimal Bharvad, Darshan
Bharvad, Satish Bharvad and Jigar in the case.

Her body was
brought to the Ahmedabad civil hospital on Wednesday. The family has refused to
accept her body until the accused are arrested and Rabari is suspended for
neglecting his duty.

The case was
registered under various provisions and sections of the Indian Penal Code and
the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act after
thousands of Dalits protested in front of the local police station.

Apart from
the family, activists have also demanded the arrest of the accused in the
matter.

The girl was
laid to rest on Thursday. “Thousands of people, including Dalits, gathered
in the funeral procession of the victim,” the report said.