Rohtak: A 30-year-old woman, who filed a molestation complaint against her neighbour, has been criticised by village panchayat in Fatehabad district after she allegedly refuse to withdraw the case against the accused. The complainant hails from Sangrur district of Punjab and had shifted to Fatehabad district after marriage.
In her compliant at the Jakhal police station on May 21, the woman said she was alone at her house and was taking a bath when her neighbour, a mason by profession, had scaled the wall of the house and molested her inside the bathroom. Following the incident, she called her father from Punjab and got a case registered against the accused under sections 354 (outraging modesty), 454 (trespassing), 452 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal code at Jakhal police station.
She alleged that the panchayat members accompanied by more than a 100 others came to her house and pressurized her to withdraw the case. But, she outright refused to do so.
Angry panchayat members passed a resolution in which they held the woman as the one who was vitiating the atmosphere of their village. They accused her of being a habitual liar and asked police not to take her seriously. A copy of the resolution was submitted to Jakhal deputy superintendent of police (DSP).
Talking to TOI, the complainant, who has a school-going son, said she had married 13 years ago and her husband was a labourer. She said they did not have a sound financial background and her husband worked hard to make both ends meet. She said the accused not only molested her but also threatened her with dire consequences.
She said she met the Fatehabad superintendent of police (SP) and Jakhal DSP in the past 20 days and also wrote to the Haryana DGP but to no avail.
Jakhal DSP Joginder Sharma said they did not arrest the accused as they could not come across any incriminating evidence. Regarding the resolution passed by the village panchayat, he said it did not affect their investigation as the police were carrying out their own investigation.