With rape cases on the rise, a Panchayat in Bareilly took a shocking decision, pardoning an alleged rapist after making him touch the survivor’s feet. The incident happened in front of a police station. The Times of India reported that after senior officials came to know of it, a complaint was lodged and investigations started.
The victim, a 30-year-old widow, worked at a levelling project under the MNREGA at a forested area in Meergunj tehsil on January 28. The report said that in the afternoon, she was alone at the work site when the accused, a rozgar sewak named Rohtash, 32, who was in charge of the workers arrived at the spot on a bike. Seeing her alone, he allegedly dragged her to an isolated spot and raped her, threatening to kill her if she reported the assault.
When the survivor went to Meergunj police station to lodge a complaint, some constables on duty allegedly refused to entertain her complaint and instead called up the village pradhan, who arrived at the spot with the accused.
The pradhan immediately called for a panchayat outside the police station, where Rohtash was ordered to touch the woman’s feet. The panchayat, thus, declared him pardoned and asked the survivor to shut the case.
The survivor then took her case to the superintendent of police (SP) rural areas Brijesh Srivastava, who reprimanded the Meergunj police and directed them to lodge a complaint.
The matter was brought to my notice and I have instructed the circle officer (CO) to investigate the matter. If the allegations are found to be true, strict action will be taken against the accused as well as the panchayat members.Brijesh Srivastava, Superintendent of Police (SP), Rural Areas
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