Kisan agitation: Rape of woman on Tikari border, FIR filed 9 days after death from Corona

A Bengal woman who came for the Protest at the Tikari Border, died of Corona virus on 30 April. It has now come to the fore that the girl’s associates had raped her as well.

Tickri border. The border between Delhi and Haryana. Farmers have been gathering here since November 2020. In protest against the new farmer laws. A girl who was involved in this Protest died on 30 April. Covid since 19 It has now come to light that he was sexually abused. An FIR has been lodged in the case of sexual exploitation against 6 people involved in the farmer agitation, including 2 women among the accused.

9 days after death, father lodged FIR

The victim’s father has filed an FIR against the accused at Bahadurgarh police station in Haryana. According to the FIR, the victim was an artist and designer. She supported the farmers’ movement. The accused reached Bengal on 1 April. Four of them Anil Malik, Anoop Singh Chanaut, Ankush Sangwan and Kavita Arya were describing themselves as members of the Kisan Social Army. Jagdish Brar described himself as a member of the Wrestling Farmers Union and Yogita Suhag described himself as an independent activist. All these were holding public meetings under the banner of United Kisan Morcha.

In the FIR “Me and my daughter met these accused on April 4 in Srisampur and Chandannagar. My daughter was impressed by these people and expressed her desire to join the Protest with them. She had also joined different protests earlier. This time he talked about going to Delhi with this group. She left for Delhi from Howrah station with 5 people. Anil was the senior most of the group, so I requested him to take care of my daughter. His mother told Kavita that he should remain with the daughter.”

When everyone was asleep at night in the train, Anil came to my daughter’s berth. He started kissing her by holding her hand. My daughter took her away and warned her not to do it again. After reaching Delhi on 11 April, he had to share a tent with Anil Malik, Anoop Singh and Ankur Sangwan at the tickri border. He told me the entire train incident on 14 April by phone. He told that Anil and Anoop are not good people, they are pressurizing him, blackmailing him.

The victim’s father advised him to talk to a woman involved in the Protest. And asked the local committee to contact. But she was new there. He did not know whom to talk to. She was also nervous because the accused were constantly harassing her. On 16 April, Victim told his father that he had told the whole thing to Yogita and Jagdish. He also recorded a video statement in front of Jagdish. With the help of Yogita, the victim was shifted to another tent as well. He also told that he is passing blood with urine.

According to the FIR, on April 18, some lawyers met Victim (the victim girl). It was also decided that the case of sexual exploitation will be brought before the leaders of the United Kisan Morcha. A few days later, Victim told his father that he had periods and now he is relaxed. This made her father suspect that something serious had happened to Victim.

Victim suffered a mild fever on 21 April. After this, he started having vomiting and loose motions. By April 24, his condition worsened. Victim’s father contacted Avik Saha, who is associated with the Jai Kisan movement. Saha made him talk to Dr. Amit Vats. Dr. Amit told Yogendra Yadav about this. Yogendra Yadav also spoke to Victim on the phone.

Yogendra Yadav saved attempt to kidnap Victim

On the other hand, when Anil and Anup came to know that Victim is in touch with the leaders of SKM. So they made a plan to remove it from the ticking border. Her father was called from Victim’s number that he wanted permission to send Victim back to Bengal. He refused and called Doctor Amit Vats to ask for help.

When YogendraYadav spoke to the accused, they said that they are taking him back to Bengal on the request of Victim’s father. Said that those people are close to Agra. After this, Devendra Yadav asked Victim for his WhatsApp location. According to the location, she was somewhere in Hansi, Haryana. Yogendra Yadav called Anil and asked him to bring back the Victim. It also said that if he is not brought back safely, then police action will be taken against Anil and his associates.

Bed not found in hospital

Victim was brought back to the border on the night of 25 April. He was sent to PGI Rohtak on 26th, but the beds were not empty there. He was admitted to Shivam Hospital in Bahadurgarh. That COVID was 19 positive. There was no improvement in Victim’s condition even after treatment, his father reached the hospital. Here Victim told him that Anil sexually abused him in the train and in the tent and Anup Singh helped him. According to Victim’s father, he said ‘bad things have happened to us’

Pressure on father – If you want a dead body of a daughter, give a statement that she died from Corona
According to Victim’s father, on the morning of April 30, Victim told him to punish Anil and Anup. Also asked to ensure that the movement of farmers is not affected by this.

In the FIR, Victim’s father wrote

After the daughter’s death, pressure was put on me that if I want her body, then I have to give a statement that she died from COVID-19. I was emotionally broken. I wanted to find the dead body of the daughter. Hence the police statement that my daughter died from COVID-19.

In the FIR, Victim’s father has written that on behalf of Yogendra Yadav and United Kisan Morcha, he has been assured of full help.

What action did the police take?

In this case, the police has registered an FIR against 6 people. Two women are also included in these. A case has been registered against them under sections 365, 342, 354, 376D and 120B of IPC for gangrape, kidnapping, blackmailing and hostage.

What did the United Kisan Morcha say on this whole matter?

United Kisan Morcha (SKM) said that it stands with Victim. After the matter came to light, the Tickery Committee of the Morcha decided and on May 5, the tents and banners of the Kisan Social Army have been removed. A boycott of the accused from the movement and their social boycott has also been announced. United Kisan Morcha said that the participation and leadership of a large number of women is a unique strength of this peasant movement.

SKM said “We want to assure every women farmer and women’s organizations that there will be no harm to the freedom of any woman and any kind of abuse or violence will not be tolerated at all with them.” It is the responsibility of the leadership of this movement to create an environment for women to have an open and full participation in the movement.”

What have the women’s farmers organizations said on this matter?

Harinder Kaur Bindu, woman president of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Ugrahan, spoke to the Times of India on this issue. They said, “Most leaders of the United Kisan Morcha knew about this incident. It is amazing why those people keep silence on this. And why we were not allowed to meet Victim’s father. If any leader has any mistake in this matter then he should be questioned why there was such delay in taking action.”

At the same time, a joint statement has been issued by 24 women’s farmer organizations in this matter. The statement said that due to no other acquaintance, Victim had to share the tent with accused Anil Malik and others between April 11 and 16. Where the accused continued to sexually abuse her. On 16 April, Victim informed some people about this, after which he was shifted to another tent.

The organization said, “The unfortunate thing is that this is not the first such incident. Many women have heard their objection to different websites and newspapers. Legal matters must be registered. This is the first step towards providing justice to the Victim.”

The women’s organization demanded that it is necessary to create a system for the redressal of such cases. In this way, this problem cannot be eradicated by taking action in any one case. Political will is needed to reduce gender sensitization and sexual harassment.

However, the question is arising that when this matter was already in the knowledge of the farmer leaders, then why did they not take action against the accused in time. Why was the police not informed about the case? Why did they keep trying to settle the matter at their level? When the accused tried to kidnap the Victim on 25 April, why were they not boycotted and their tent-banners were uprooted. Why was this action taken after 5 May i.e. 10 days?