Dalit body demands arrest for rape

JAIPUR: The Centre for Dalit Rights (CDR) here has demanded immediate arrest of three accused in a case of alleged rape and murder of a 30-year-old Dalit woman in Ranoli village of Tonk district. The woman’s body was found hanging from a tree near the house of alleged murderers on April 20.

The victim's husband, who works as a labourer, has alleged that an owner of a fair price shop, wielding considerable influence in the administration, had raped his wife and killed her after two days. He said the accused, Panna Lal Jat, murdered his wife when he confronted him over his crime.

A fact-finding team of CDR, which visited Ranoli village over the weekend, found that Panna Lal had thrashed the victim’s husband when he confronted him after being told by his wife about the alleged rape. The victim was last seen later when she went to meet Panna Lal’s wife and tell her about the incident.

When the victim’s husband went to Panna Lal’s house again on April 20, he found that his wife had been murdered and hanged from a tree, CDR director Satish Kumar said here on Friday. Though the victim’s husband informed the police immediately, the woman's body was removed from the tree and taken for post-mortem the next day.

The first information report about the incident was registered on April 25, five days after the incident. The accused – Panna Lal, his wife Gita Devi and son Gurdip – are still at large. The case, which was earlier registered for unnatural death, was later converted into a matter involving the offences under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on the CDR's intervention.

Mr. Kumar said since the case involved criminal conspiracy for rape and murder, the procedure laid down under the SC/ST Act should be complied with for arrest of the accused, payment of compensation to the victim's family, police security for the family and submission of charge-sheet in the special court within 60 days.