Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member and senior party leader Brinda Karat on Wednesday wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to take urgent action in the alleged rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in the Purana Nangal gaon in Delhi.
In the letter to the Home Minister, Karat raised questions on the role of Sadar Thana Cantonment area police compared the case to that of one in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras last year.
"I met the mother of the child today. We also met many residents of the colony. Although four people have been arrested in this case, the role of the police in the Sadar Thana Cantonment area is shocking, to say the least," she said. "The child was forcibly cremated by the criminals when the mother was in a state of trauma and shock. The community is also enraged because according to the traditional custom, young girls are buried not cremated. Therefore the lie being spread that the mother agreed to the cremation is criminal enough and reminiscent of what happened in the Hathras case. There, the police themselves cremated the victim. Here the police refused to act in time," Karat wrote further.
On August 1, a nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped and killed by a priest and three employees of a crematorium near Delhi Cantonment in southwest Delhi, the police had said.
The former Rajya Sabha MP said that instead of helping the family "who was in a state of shock," the police detained them in the police station for several hours.
"This is inhuman and totally illegal. The family was not given the FIR until there were protests from the community. Also, the police did not use the correct sections including those under POSCO, the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST Act," she stated. "The crime of the child is that she belongs to a poor, Dalit, homeless family. She went to get drinking water from the cooler in the cremation ground. Her family does not have a roof over their head, her parents are unemployed and get occasional work as sweepers or rag pickers. She was the only child. Her murder is a crime many times over," Karat added.
Stating that it is "regrettable" that Shah has not intervened in the matter yet, despite Delhi Police being directly under the jurisdiction of the Home Ministry, said urged him "ensure that justice is done" to the victim.
"The parents cannot be ever compensated for the loss of their beloved daughter. But the Government is duty-bound to ensure them financial support. I also request you to take immediate action against the police personnel involved. The message of justice for the child must go out loud and strong," she added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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