THE Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch, in a statement issued on September 30, has strongly condemned the brutal gangrape and murder of the young dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh by upper caste goondas. Shockingly the  local police delayed the registration of FIR for days and she was not given adequate medical care. Finally public pressure led to her transfer to Delhi but it was too late. In a most objectionable statement, the district SP denied that she had been raped and said that her tongue had not been cut but she had bitten it herself. The UP police personnel guilty of dereliction of duty and misinformation must be punished. The UP police, with the help of Delhi police, took away the body and forcibly cremated the young woman's body and kept the family members away. This is another terrible example of injustice and inhumanity on the part of the UP and Delhi police.

DSMM has called for organising countrywide protests against this atrocity in UP where attacks on dalits and the impunity enjoyed by upper caste goondas and policemen guilty of criminal dereliction of duty are commonplace.

AIDWA
IN another statement issued on September 30, the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), has strongly condemned the brutal gang rape of the 19 year old dalit girl in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh leading to her death. The victim was gangraped and strangulated on September 14 when she went to collect fodder from the field.  She succumbed to the horrifying injuries inflicted on her by the rapists at the Safdarjung Hospital where she was admitted in a very critical condition. Seeing her critical condition, the administration should have shifted her immediately to Delhi for treatment. 

The barbaric torture by the rapists led to the victim suffering multiple fractures and permanent damage to her spinal cord. Injuries to her neck left her in a totally paralysed condition and she struggled to breathe. Her tongue was also slashed.

The family has also alleged that the police did not register the complaint for 4-5 days.

Uttar Pradesh has become a hotbed of crimes against women with daily incidents of kidnapping, rape and murder. The political patronage given to criminals in UP has led to a jungle raj with goons moving around with impunity.

During the Unnao case, the CBI had explicitly stated that two IPS and one IAS officers were found guilty of dereliction of duty and action should be taken against them. But the UP state government has not taken any action against the erring officers so far sending a message that crimes against women need not be taken seriously.

AIDWA demands that immediate protection be given to the family of the victim. AIDWA and various women’s organisations have jointly called for protests to be held all over the country on October 1.
Protest outside UP Bhavan against gruesome rape and murder of a Dalit Girl

WOMEN, youth and student organisations held a militant protest on September 30 outside the Uttar Pradesh Bhavan in Delhi against the barbaric gangrape and murder of the 19 year dalit  girl from Hathras. The police under the union home ministry severely manhandled the protesters and arrested them. The organisations included AIDWA, NFIW, AIMSS, SFI, AISF, AIDSO, DYFI, AIYF, AIDYO and Anhad.