Away from the incessant commotion at Jaipur’s JK Lon hospital -- the largest government hospital for children in Rajasthan -- a conspicuous silence lingers in the corridor just outside the post-operative surgical ICU, on Friday afternoon.
A specially-abled minor girl, who was allegedly sexually assaulted in Alwar on 11 January, is undergoing treatment here for the last 14 days.
Two police personnel guard the corridor, and keep an eye on visitors who are questioned about the reasons for their presence in the area. Behind the heavily guarded doors of the ICU, sit family members of the 15-year-old girl. The survivor, who suffers from a speech impairment, belongs to a minority community.
The case has grabbed national headlines, with the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan being criticised for doing a cover-up of the case. There was also a shutdown in Alwar city on Saturday, 22 January, with many demanding that the culprits be arrested. Two weeks since the incident, no arrests have been made.
What Happened on 11 January?
On 11 January night, the girl’s parents received a distressing call from police personnel about how their daughter had been rushed to a local hospital in Alwar.
At 7.30 pm, she had been found lying in a pool of blood on a flyover – 25 km away from her house. By the time the family got the call, their daughter had been missing for eight hours.
The survivor’s mother told The Quint, “On 11 January afternoon, we realised that our daughter is missing. After recollecting and checking with all, we realised that she was seen around 1 pm. We searched for her everywhere. An acquaintance told us that she was seen in the lane a few hours ago but they were clueless about where she was headed.”
The family then lodged a complaint at Akbarpur police station in Alwar, and also submitted her photo. Later in the night, they received a phone call from the police asking them to come to a hospital in Alwar where their daughter had been rushed.
The survivor’s mother said:
“Every time I look at my daughter's condition, I feel pain. When we first saw her, she was bleeding. She can’t even talk, she only says ‘mummy’ and ‘papa’. It’s been two weeks, why has no one been arrested?”
On 11 January, the survivor was first taken to a hospital in Alwar, and was later referred to the JK Lon hospital in Jaipur. She was brought there at 2 am on 12 January in an unconscious state.
The JK Lon hospital Superintendent Dr Arvind Shukla told The Quint, “When she was brought here, she was unconscious and bleeding. Her wounds were extensive, and without wasting any time, our team of doctors performed a three-hour surgery and repaired her injuries. The girl is recovering and is stable.”
Since day one, the girl’s parents were in the hospital with her. Recently, however, both the survivor and her parents contracted COVID. The parents are now in isolation at home in Alwar, and the survivor’s maternal aunt is with her in the hospital in Jaipur.
On the day of the incident, the Alwar police lodged a case under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and section 376 (punishment for sexual assault) of the IPC.
Police Action in the Case
The police had initially stated that it “could be a case of a sexual assault” as the victim was bleeding profusely from her private parts. On 14 January, however, Alwar SP Tejaswani Gautam, while quoting the medical reports from JK Lon hospital, ruled out the possibility of rape during a press briefing.
She said, “We are still investigating the case but the technical and medical reports do not indicate the possibility of rape." The SP said that as per the reports, the minor's private parts "are intact," and the "the injuries do not indicate any kind of penetrative sex."
Those who prepared the report after examining the injuries include the doctors who did her surgery, forensic experts, and gynaecologists. Echoing a similar statement, medical jurist of the Sawai Man Singh Medical College, Dr Deepali Pathak, who was also a part of the team who examined the reports of the minor’s injuries claimed that her private parts "are intact, and there are no signs of penetration. There is, however, a wound outside the perineal region.”
While the police have ruled out the possibility of rape, the survivor’s family alleges that it is a “cover-up.”
The survivor’s uncle told The Quint, “The police told us on day one that it is a case of sexual assault, which is why they also lodged an FIR under those sections. Now that they are unable to trace the culprits, they are changing their statements.”
On Saturday, 22 January, a shutdown was observed in Alwar, where the family members protested and demanded the arrest of culprits. “We want a fair investigation, which only an agency like the CBI can do,” said the survivor’s uncle.
Case Shifted But CBI Yet to Pick It Up
A day after the incident took place, state, as well as national leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), criticised the ruling Congress government in Rajasthan over the safety of women.
The Rajasthan unit of the BJP also constituted a “four-member committee” to probe the alleged abduction and sexual assault of the 15-year-old girl. The four members include BJP leaders.
Since the incident, several BJP leaders have also visited the victim and her family in the hospital. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chief Priyank Kanoongo had also called on Gehlot to hand over the case to the central agency.
The National Commission for Minorities has also taken suo motu cognisance of the matter and sought a report from the Rajasthan government by 24 January.
Due to pressure from all sides, on January 17, during a high-level meeting led by Gehlot, and attended by senior officials and doctors, the decision to transfer the case to the CBI was taken. It is pertinent to note that while the announcement of the transfer of the case was made a week ago, the CBI has not yet taken up the case.
Alwar SP Tejaswini Gautam told The Quint, “We have no communication from the CBI as of now. Usually, after the state government recommends, the CBI takes up the case up after due process. The process hasn’t been initiated yet.”
When asked about the allegations made by the family on the change of statement by the police, the SP said that the investigation is still on.
“After the police saw the bleeding, it said that this could possibly be a case of assault. That’s why we lodged the case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, (POCSO Act) and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) but the medical report we received three days after that ruled out the possibility of rape,” she said.
SP Gautam claims that the police is “very close to cracking the case.” She told The Quint, “The CCTV footage reveals that the girl got into a ‘share-auto’ after leaving her house. CCTV footage gathered from different parts of the city reveal that she was walking alone towards the flyover, where she was later found injured. We have found footage that shows that she climbed the flyover around 7:30 pm but what happened in the next few minutes is something we are still investigating.”
She said that the police are currently questioning several people, including the auto driver and the other passengers of that ‘share-auto’.
"Atrocities Against Women Saw an Increase of 17.03% in 2021": Data
In 2021, Rajasthan witnessed an increase of 11.01 percent in the registration of criminal cases as compared to the previous year.
According to the data given by the Rajasthan police, 1,93,279 cases were registered in 2020, and the figure increased to 2,14,552 in 2021. In 2019, however, the figure was 2,25,306. The data suggest that atrocities against women also saw an increase of 17.03% in 2021 as compared to 2020.
As per data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Rajasthan registered the highest number of rape and attempt to rape cases in 2019 and 2020 in the country.
Ever since the Gehlot-led Congress government came to power in Rajasthan, the Opposition (BJP) has been vocal about the law-and-order situation in the state and have been criticising the government over cases of atrocities against women.
Rajasthan BJP chief Satish Poonia told The Quint, “The state is witnessing lawlessness. With zero development, the crime rate has gone up. Women are unsafe in the state under the Congress regime. It shows their complacency and disrespect for the people.”
Recently, former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje too criticised the Gehlot-led government over the Alwar incident.
“The specially-abled girl was assaulted and thrown on the roadside, the Congress government must be answerable to the people of Rajasthan for making the state unsafe for women,” she tweeted on 13 January.
A year ago, Rajasthan’s DGP ML Lather attributed the increase in the registration of criminal cases to the state’s policy of mandatory registration of FIR whenever a complaint is received. Lather had said, “In 2020, Rajasthan had the second-lowest pendency rate in cases of crimes against women. While the average investigating period in rape cases was 241 days in 2018, it came down to 86 days in 2021. Lesser crimes took place in 2020 because of the COVID-19 lockdown.”
(The author is a senior journalist based in Rajasthan reporting on politics, gender, human rights and issues impacting marginalised communities. She tweets: @tabeenahanjum)
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