A 17 year old dalit girl was gang raped on 14 August, the eve of Independence Day, in Gorakhpur. A 3 member RYA team led by State President Rakesh Singh visited the spot on 17 August and spoke to the family members.
The team met the maternal uncle of the victim Dinesh (name changed), a resident of Bansgaon Badawan. Dinesh Kumar told them that at 8.30 pm on the night of Friday the 14th of August he, his sister and his brother-in-law were sitting on the terrace and having their food as there was a power cut. The victim girl served food to the three people and went down to fetch water from a government hand pump some ten steps away. There 6 people (2 of whom the victim recognizes and identifies, and the other 4 wearing masks) gagged her and took her on a motorcycle to the ruins of the Devasa Mata temple. They raped her all night and also burnt her in several places with cigarettes. At 8 am in the morning an acquaintance of the family told them that their daughter was lying unconscious near the temple. Meanwhile, the father and uncle of the girl were searching for her at other places. The victim’s uncle told them that his brother-in-law had taken this room on rent a month ago. They had to take this room on rent because the brick kiln where Raghupati (name changed) was working used to get water-logged during the rains. On Sunday and Monday the chowk became deserted due to the Lockdown. The uncle told the team members that his brother-in-law’s native place comes under Badhalganj Thana. He had come to Gola Thana in search of work (both places are in Gorakhpur) and was working at this brick kiln. The victim has 2 sisters and 2 brothers. She is from a dalit family and is the eldest amongst the siblings, being 17 years old. The police have so far arrested 2 persons, while the other criminals are absconding.
When the team reached the spot, they found that the victim and her parents had gone to Gola, and so they could not meet them. Family members told the team that in the name of investigation the victim was kept in the Thana for 12 hours and no medical treatment was given to her even though her body had received cigarette burns in several places. The police had a medical examination done after 24 hours.
The RYA team comprised Rakesh Singh, AIPWA leader Bindu Devi and CPIML Local Committee member Chandrika Prasad.
The team members pointed out that Gorakhpur is the Home District of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, but girl children are not safe even here. The entire State is witnessing a surge of gang rapes against girl children and women, especially dalit women. The rule of law has ceased to exist in the State and criminals and dominant sections are all-powerful. Criminals protected by the ruling powers are boldly committing crimes against dalits, women and weaker sections.
