A woman from West Bengal who died with COVID-19 symptoms at a hospital in Haryana was gang-raped while she was going to join the protest by farmers at Tikri, near the border with Delhi, according to a First Information Report.
Meanwhile, Haryana Police have formed an SIT to probe the allegations. The SIT was formed after the 25-year-old victim’s father alleged that she was raped by some men when she went to the protest site with members of an outfit supporting the farmers against the three farm laws promulgated by the Centre.
Six persons including two main accused have been named in the FIR following a complaint by the girl’s father on Saturday. “The woman was admitted to a hospital in Jhajjar district with Covid symptoms on April 26. She died April 30. The woman’s father then filed a case of rape against two men,” a report in NDTV quoted Bahadurgarh police officer Vijay Kumar as saying.
The accused, identified as Anil Malik, Anup Singh, Ankush Sangwan and Jagdish Brar along with two women, had pitched tents at Tikri border under the banner of Kisan Social Army and have been booked under sections 365, 342, 376-D, 506, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha:
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha has said in a statement the woman was assaulted by the accused on the way to Delhi and after reaching the Tikri border. A week later, she developed a high fever and was found Covid-19 positive. Later she succumbed to the infection on April 30 at the private hospital.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha said in its statement that it “stands with the struggle for justice for our deceased woman colleague. SKM has already taken strict action against the accused in this case and we are committed to take this fight for justice to its logical conclusion.”
“When this came to the notice of the SKM, we decided to take the strictest possible action. Four days ago, the Tikri committee of SKM had already removed the tents and banners of the so called ‘Kisan Social Army’. The accused were also barred from participating in the movement and public appeal was issued for their social boycott,” the statement stated.
Several farmers are protesting against the farm laws at border points of Delhi, including Tikri and Singhu, since November last year.