Is the Haryana government covering up what killed the young Dalit girl in Jind?

It is almost a year since public anger against the Haryana government’s notorious record for crimes against women, triggered by a spate of rapes – 19 in one month, forced UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to visit one of the rape victims in Jind. But to what effect? The resistance of the state police to register and investigate sexual crimes against Dalits remains undiminished, say women’s rights activists. The resistance is especially strong in a district like Jind, which has a violent history of brutalities committed against women from the Dalit community, they say. [caption id=“attachment_1080797” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. Reuters[/caption] A recent incident involving the mysterious death of a 20-year-old Dalit girl has sparked widespread protests in the state against the police for not bringing the guilty to book. Since 25 August, when the body was found, three post-mortems have been conducted. The first two, conducted in Jind and Rohtak, concluded the death was a suicide. The result of the third post-mortem conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has not yet been disclosed. Jagmati Sangwan, vice-president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) and president of the Haryana state unit said, “It is based on the medical report that we can pursue this case further. The circumstantial evidence indicates that there has been rape and murder. The first two medical reports said that there was poisoning and that there was no rape and murder. The third medical report can be a reliable report. We are trying to get a copy of that report.” Residents of the village of Baniya Kheda had a chance to see the girl’s body: “They brought the body to the morgue and asked the women to take a look,” the Hindu reports. “Her body was lying sprawled on the stretcher and her neck seemed broken. Her arm was twisted inwards at the wrist as if by force. Her feet seemed to have been tied with a strong rope and her salwar was drenched in blood. There were round burn marks around her neck and chest where the skin had turned white as if cigarette or bidi had been stubbed out on it. Blood was also flowing from scratch marks at her chest and legs. Only her face was clean and untouched.” On 29 August, a fact-finding team led by All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM) and comprising journalists, lawyers and activists visited Jind to investigate the case. Relating the sequence of events, Deepika Shokeen of AIDMAM and a member of the fact-finding team said, “The girl left the house at 11 am (for a Junior Basic Training course exam at the Jind, 22 km from her village). At about 4 pm, the family got a call from someone who had found her bag. The family then tried to lodge a complaint at the nearest police station in Pillukhera but were shunted out. The girl’s body was found the following day at around 8 am near a canal in the fields.” The body was then taken to Jind Civil Hospital, outside which residents of the village would later hold a week long protest, holding on to the girl’s body. The body was cremated on Saturday (31 August) after the family and the people of the village were promised that the culprits would be brought to book, said Shokeen. Speaking about the family’s harrowing experience, she said, “Despite there being bruises and burn marks on her body, the doctors at Jind Hospital called it a suicide. The body was then taken to a hospital in Rohtak, which also concluded it was a case of suicide. The police, in a press briefing conducted a day after we arrived in Jind, said that poison had been found in the girl’s body,” said Shokeen. The family’s hope now rests on third and final post-mortem report by AIIMS. Speaking about the state police’s record when it comes to acting against sexual violence against Dalit women, Sangwan said, “There have been incidents where action has not been as swift and serious as it should have been. That is why people don’t believe what the administration and the two medical reports conducted in Haryana are indicating. There is a long history of this type of discrimination. Young girls from the Dalit community who are aspiring for upward mobility are being made to pay with their lives and honour. The circumstantial evidence in this case is very strongly indicating rape and murder.” Sangwan said she was hopeful that the SIT (Special Investigation Team) that has been constituted would get to the bottom of the issue. “We would like appeal to the government that the family of the girl should be supported in every way. What they are going through is extremely traumatic. The AIIMS post-mortem report should be taken on record as soon as possible and there should be strict punishment against police officers who misbehaved with the family,” she said. Supporting the protests that broke out, Sangwan said, “The protest was necessary. The girl’s family came to the hospital with the body at around 8 am. Till 4 pm, nobody took them seriously. Their protest was justified. Students also protested. About 2000 people took part. This kind of thing is needed more and more in Haryana.” Relating two more instances of rape of Dalit girls in Jind in recent weeks and the police’s “inexcusable lack of commitment to tracking down the criminals,” Sangwan said, “In July, near Narwana town, a Dalit girl was gang-raped in the fields. Our activists took her to police station. And from 6 pm to 3 am they were kept in police station. In another incident, near Julana town, parents of a girl who was raped came to the police station at 8 am and no action was taken till 2 pm. Only after the family contacted us and we put pressure on the police, did they register a case.” The AIDMAM-led fact-finding team will release its investigative report on the “gross negligence of Haryana police in the investigation of alleged rape and murder of Dalit girl in Jind, Haryana” on Tuesday (3 September).