A 10-year-old girl was raped by her neighbor at Jugeda in Dhangadhi-11 on February 7 but political leaders kept the issue under wraps, her family has claimed. [break]
The victimized family has been forced to settle with a compensation of Rs 100,000 from the alleged youth´s family, after barring them from lodging a complaint in the police for 35 days, the deadline to file such complaints. Even the hospital refused to admit the bleeding girl on February 7 midnight and referred her to Lucknow the other day.
Synopsis of the incident
The third grader had gone to a neighbor´s house to watch television after dinner. Ashok Rana, 21, of the locality then lured her out to eat sweets after a power-cut and raped her in a garden nearby.
"I had gone to the neighbor´s house with 10/12 other children to watch a film on VCD. He then took me to a shop after power went out, bought noodles for me and then forced himself on me in a garden," the girl recalled.
The bleeding girl returned home crying in pain and was taken to Seti Zonal Hospital. "But the doctors refused to admit her saying it was a police case and couldn´t be treated before filing a complaint with the police," the victim´s mother said. The hospital then referred her to Lucknow for treatment on the second day.
A person from the accused´s family accompanied the girl´s family to Lucknow and she was brought home only after the 35-day deadline to lodge a complaint expired. "She is still under trauma and doesn´t eat anything," her mother said.
In the meantime, the girl´s uncle lodged a complaint accusing the youth of rape at the Area Police Office, Jugeda, on February 10 and at the District Police Office two days later. Police had said investigation was underway when he visited the police station on February 15 for follow-up.
"When we returned with the girl on March 16 at the police station they said the complaint had never been lodged. The 35-day deadline had also expired," the uncle complained. Police suggested us to file another complaint of manhandling.
"Political leaders had been piling pressure and the police had refused to lodge a complaint. So, as suggested by the local leaders, we reached a settlement on March 19 on condition that the culprit´s family will deposit Rs 100,000 in the name of the girl," her aunt said adding that CA member Rana had put pressure on them to settle the case at the local level.
SP concedes mistake
Superintendent of Police in Kailali Yogeshwar Romkhami conceded that the police were at fault for not lodging the complaint of a rape victim minor and promised to take action against the staff at the legal section. He added that the victim´s party also erred by not contacting the police and rather settling the case for money.
Sub-inspector at the legal section Kamal Bahadur Bista said he didn´t lodge the rape case in the lack of medical report but denied that he suggested the family to file a manhandling case instead.
"She had been profusely bleeding and was in serious condition. We gave two to three pints of blood and referred her to Lucknow after her situation improved a bit," Dr Sameer Khan at the hospital said and denied that the hospital refused to admit her. "There´s no question of a doctor not taking the patient. I don´t know if other employees had told so," Dr Khan argued.
Dipendra Singh at the regional office of the National Human Rights Commission in Dhangadhi said a rape victim can´t get justice through a compensation of Rs 100,000.
Program Coordinator at Women´s Rehabilitation Center (WOREC) in Dhangadi Basanti Chaudhary said there were 14 rape cases in Dhangadhi in the past four months out of which 12 victims were children below 15. She claimed that six of the 14 cases had been settled locally.
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