New Delhi: Kunika Kashyap was on her way home after checking in on an ailing relative when she was allegedly attacked by the sarpanch of Badebodal village. “He kept choking me and hitting me continuously,” Kunika told ThePrint over the phone.
She was taken to the nearest government hospital where several tests and an ultrasound later, doctors found out that Kunika was six-weeks pregnant. “Everybody gets married to have a family. Our family was just about to start and he [sarpanch] ended it,” said her husband Mandu, referring to the miscarriage Kunika says she suffered after the assault.
Kunika’s is among the five Christian families in Badebodal. She and her husband claim the attack was reprisal—for raising their voice about targeted violence against Christians in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district. “We are often told we are trying to convert Hindus to Christianity and we don’t want to live peacefully with them. This is not true,” said Kunika.
Inspector Umesh Patil from the Nagarnar police station told ThePrint that a First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against the sarpanch and his wife. “We are currently investigating the miscarriage and are asking the hospital for Kunika’s medical reports. No arrests have been made till now,” he told ThePrint.
Bastar Superintendent of Police Shalabh Kumar Sinha too said the police have sought Kunika’s medical reports and will refer to them to decide on how to proceed in the matter.
This story was originally published in theprint.in. Read the full story here.