A young girl died on September 29, 2020, at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi. In her statement before a magistrate on 22 September, the girl said that on 14 September she was attacked and raped. He also named the names of four people from his village (Chandpa region) in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh. After his death, the police hurriedly took his body to the village and cremated it at 2.30 am on 30 September.
This girl belonged to a poor scheduled caste family. The four people who have been arrested have called this family as 'lowly comes', 'whom they do not even touch with the boat-bamboos'. There are thousands of villages like that in India. There are few scheduled caste families in these villages; They either have little property or no land, usually, they live in an isolated settlement, live very modestly, and do modest work with very little money and they belong to other dominant castes Are dependent on groups. The victim's father owns two buffalo and two bighas of land and works as a part-time sweeper in a neighborhood school.
Inspired by Mahatma Phule, Periyar EV Ramaswamy, Babasaheb Ambedkar, and other great social reformers, the Scheduled Castes have organized themselves politically in some states; But his status is only marginally better.
A big crime
Rape is a very common crime in India. According to NCRB data, 32,033 incidents of rape of women (not including Poxo cases) were reported in 2019, of which 3,065 took place in Uttar Pradesh. Many rape cases are recorded as crimes, investigated, and prosecuted. Given the conviction rate of around 28 percent, many of the accused are convicted. After the crime is reduced, there is noise for a few days and then all is quiet. Some cases turn into 'events'; Sufficient reasons exist for Chandpa's case to turn into an incident.
All infected with pandemic
Chandpa's case is an example of this, where everyone from Chandpa's SHO to District Superintendent of Police, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, and Hospital Principal, Aligarh's District Magistrate to ADGP, from law and order to the Chief Minister of the state, seems to be That is affected by mnemonization. It seems as if an epidemic has infected Uttar Pradesh's system.
Consider the words and actions of key responsible people:
The SHO saw the victim's condition, heard her mother and brother, and then registered a case of assault and attempt to murder and referred the victim to the hospital in Aligarh, but she did not ask for medical examination. He did not even anticipate sexual assault.
Regarding not having a medical examination for 72 hours, the SP gave an unconcealed explanation with the words, 'There are some institutional flaws, which we all need to work together to overcome.'
-The principal of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College admitted that the hospital did not conduct a forensic examination, 'because he and his mother did not say anything about the sexual assault, so we did not investigate him.'
The District Magistrate (Collector), along with the SP, decided to cremate the dead body in the night without the presence of the family. The SP said I was told that it is not unusual in this area to perform last rites at night… The thing is that there is no other Hindu way.
- In a video, the DM was seen saying to the family that the media would go away in a day or two, but 'only we will be here with you'. The victim's brother said that the DM also told the family that if the girl had died of coronavirus, she would have been compensated.
-ADGP (Law and Order) insisted that according to the forensic report, the victim was not raped (they should read Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code on this subject and the law related to this subject.)
- Uttar Pradesh government system laid siege to the village, imposed Section 144 on the road leading to the district Hathras, and prohibited the entry of media and political representatives.
The Uttar Pradesh government demanded the removal of the SIT and a CBI inquiry. Along with this, the Uttar Pradesh police registered an FIR against unknown people for conspiracy, inciting caste rivalry and sedition. Recently a journalist has been arrested and a case has been registered against him.
Why does injustice happen?
In a state where Chief Minister Adityanath has a stronghold over the administration, is it possible (except for the SHO exception) that any action is possible without the Chief Minister's knowledge? The Chief Minister's first statement came on 30 September, when he formed the SIT. Meanwhile, the key players are carefree as if nothing has happened. Every injustice is associated with a sense of escape from punishment, and it relates to the law: my strength is my sword, the camera (IAS, IPS, doctor) hanging in my chest is my armor; People of my race will fight for me; My government and the ruling party will not accept any omission or involvement, etc. Governments continue to tolerate a sense of escape until the bureaucracy refuses to obey the government's order. Now you know why injustice happens: Punishment frees justice.