Meerut gangrape, conversion: BJP raises the heat on battered Akhilesh govt

Lucknow: The alleged Meerut gangrape, with its dimensions of conversion and human trafficking, threatens to emerge as a big challenge for the Akhilesh Yadav government which is already facing the charge of being ineffective in controlling crime, especially against women. In the communally surcharged atmosphere of western Uttar Pradesh, the alleged gangrape and forcible conversion of a Hindu girl has predictably snowballed into a big political confrontation with the Bharatiya Janata Party demanding severe action against the district officials who, it alleged, had been initially reluctant even to lodge an FIR. Since the Meerut incident involves madrasas, Muslim clerics and conversion of a Hindu girl to Islam, the administration is taking extra care lest the situation takes a violent communal colour. Already, the possibility of a trafficking racket is not being ruled out. Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, sensing the mood of the people over the recurrence of such incidents, has promised that a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation would be held and the guilty would not be spared. In reply to questions in this connection, he said the government realised the seriousness of the incident. [caption id=“attachment_1651365” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The 20-year-old girl who used to teach Hindi and English in a madrasa in Kharkhaunda near Meerut, was reportedly kidnapped on 23 July and taken to a madrasa in Hapur, gangraped, and forced to convert to Islam. She was also shifted to madrasas in Garh Mukteshwar, Deoband and Muzaffarnagar, when she managed to escape and contact her family members. The conversion of non-Muslims to Islam has been very infrequent in the past decades whereas cases of conversion of Hindus to Christianity have been reported from some districts, of which the prominent is Allahabad. In fact last year the administration had to step in to stop a huge Masihi rally in Allahabad where an evangelist was allegedly performing miracles to convince people about Christianity. In her statement to the police, the woman has levelled some explosive allegations on those running the madrasas, saying that about 50 other girls were also in captivity, and the perpetrators were planning to send them to Saudi Arabia and Dubai under their changed Muslim identities. She also alleged that she had been operated upon for some unknown reason after being sedated, and some reports said a preliminary investigation found that her fallopian tubes had been removed and she may not be able to bear any children in the future. While the girl and her family members alleged that the madrasa heads and some village leaders were involved in the incident, the police are looking for those named and some others, in this connection. The entire Meerut district was in the grip of tension following the incident and the security forces are on high alert. BJP state president Laxmikant Bajpai and legislator Sangeet Som visited the family of the rape victim in Meerut on Tuesday. Bajpai said it was a very serious matter and needed to be probed thoroughly, preferably by the Special task Force (STF). State BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said the incident was the result of official laxity and apathy. “It is an indication of the abysmal law and order enforcement in the state that the victims and people have to take to streets to get FIR registered in rape and other cases in the state. Even small incidents needed to be probed and the culprits should be punished. In Kharkhaunda incident, the family members managed to get an FIR registered after nine hours,” he alleged. Meerut superintendent of police (rural) MS Beg said that a complaint against village pradhan Nawab Khan, madarsa cleric Sallaullah and his wife for abduction and rape had been registered by the father of victim. Nawab Khan and two women have been arrested while others are yet to be arrested.