By Anuja Jaiswal
AGRA: A 17-year-old Dalit girl’s body was found in a semi-nude state in an agricultural field in Aligarh’s Akrabad area on Sunday night, sparking protests by local residents, who alleged that she had been raped and killed. The protesting villagers also clashed with police and indulged in stone-pelting, in which one policeman was injured, police said on Monday.
Around noon on Monday, family members and locals laid the girl’s body on the road and blocked traffic at the Sasni Gate area, demanding compensation for the victim’s family. After intervention by police and administrative officials, the last rites were performed by the family.
Though the postmortem report did not reveal any injuries on the girl’s private parts, police have sent her vaginal and rectal swabs to the forensic lab to ascertain whether the girl was sexually assaulted.
“According to the postmortem report, the cause of death was by strangulation and smothering,” said SSP Muniraj G, addingthat physical injuries were found on the victim’s body and her skin was peeled off as the body was apparently dragged in the field.
The SSP also said that a preliminary examination by a team of doctors who conducted the post-mortem did not find any internal injuries.
have registered an FIR under sections 376 and 302 of the IPC and the POCSO Act against an unidentified person on the basis of a complaint filed by the victim’s family member.
Three youths have been detained by the police for questioning. The SSP said five teams have been formed to investigate the case.
According to the girl’s grandmother, the victim had gone to collect fodder for animals around 12 pm on Sunday. When she did not return home till 2:30 pm, they started searching for her and found her body in a semi-nude state in the evening, claimed the grandmother. The girl had been staying with her maternal grandmother for the past 10 years.
Former BSP MP Munquad Ali said, “Our main objective is to get this family justice and compensation. We condemn this incident.” This state government has failed to provide security to women and that is the reason for increasing such incidents across the state, he added.
Bheem Army’s mandal (division) president Sikandar Baudh, who reached Aligarh to meet the victim’s family, said the organisation has demanded financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh for the family. “President’s rule should be imposed in the state as the government is unable to control crime,” he said, adding that this is the only state across the country where such incidents are increasing with each passing day.
This story first appeared on timesofindia.indiatimes.com