I woke up this morning feeling sick to my stomach as I read about another rape and murder case that recently took place in Surat. What has this country come to? How low as a unit can we stoop? As if the Kathua and Unnao rape cases weren’t disheartening enough. At times like these, I feel immense rage yet helpless at the same time.
On the 6th of April, the police found the body of a nine-year-old girl on a cricket ground in Surat’s Bhestan area. Unfortunately, the girl’s identity is still a mystery and no family member has come to identify the body.
After a five-hour-long postmortem, the Civil Hospital Forensics Head, Ganesh Govekar, said that they found wounds on her body which were between one to seven days old. The little girl had 86 external injuries on her body. They believe that most injuries were caused by wooden weapons and she was tortured and raped for at least 8 days. She was later strangled to death.
At the moment, her body is undergoing forensic tests to ascertain whether she was drugged or not. Police inspector B.K Jhala said, “Even after eight days, the parents of the girl are yet to be identified. The police also believe that she was murdered somewhere else and the dead body has been thrown here. The victim’s picture has been sent to the state police control room for the identification process.” Anyone who provides the information about the girl’s identity or her family will be rewarded Rs 20,000.
He later added that they’ve registered a case of rape and murder and have also booked an unidentified accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
After an outrage that erupted post the Unnao and Kathua rape cases, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, made a strong statement while speaking at the inauguration of the Dr Ambedkar National Memorial at New Delhi on Friday.
He said, “As a society, as a country, we are ashamed by this. Any such incident happening in any part of the country shakes out consciousness. I want to assure the country that no culprit will be spared. Justice will be completely delivered to the daughters who have suffered atrocities.”
Even after that, the number of cases that have come to light are disturbing. Just yesterday, it was reported that a 19-year-old girl in Delhi’s Sultanpur area was kept captive in the house of the accused for over a week and repeatedly raped for over a week. According to reports, the family of the accused knew of the accused”s crimes. Heinous, isn’t it?
There’s no doubt that these past few days have been a disturbing and challenging phase for our country and for humanity. Let’s hope that action takes place at the earliest.
Featured Image: India.com
