Three teenage tribal girls, in the age group of 14-17 were allegedly gang-raped while returning from a Jatra
The incident happened on April 16 but the complaint was filed on Wednesday at the Bijepur police station, after the tribal leaders decided to report the incident, as the accused were from a different community. A search is on to nab the culprits, said the inspector-in-charge, Lingaraj Sethy.
Three girls, aged between 14-17 years were returning home after watching a Jatra, Tarini Yatra, when 5 unidentified men from a different community had forcibly waylaid them. While one managed to escape, the other two were taken to an isolated place and took turns in raping them. The victims were initially hesitant to reveal this in fear of shame and their familiy’s honour. But when the parents came to know of this matter, they first approached the tribal leaders for help while they called for a meeting and decided to file a complaint as the men belonged to a different community, which led to a delay in filing an FIR. The medical examination was done at the Bhawanipatna government hospital, after they had to travel to 3 different hospitals due to the lack of female doctors. Charges of relevant sections of IPC, POSCO Act and the SC and ST Act will be given in this case. The area has significant Maoist presence and the terrain is hilly and has forests which is why police suspect that the accused might be hiding in the dense forests. The the Kalahandi District Adivasi such heinous crimes will not be tolerated against their women. The president of the Sangh, Prakash Majhi, has demanded the police to take immediate action and arrest the culprits in 24 hours, or they would take up a protest . BJP MP Basanta Kumar Panda has expressed his concern over this incident and had said that the accused has to be prosecuted after they have been arrested. This has created a huge resentment among the tribal community for the authorities as well as other community members due to this incident.
