Hisar dalit gangrape: Most on-the-run accused belong to political, millionaire families

Hisar dalit gangrape: Twelve accused. Eight named in FIR. Two arrested. Ten still on the run.

This, in a nutshell, is the status of the investigations in the alleged gangrape of a 16-year-old Dalit girl, which hit the headlines seven days ago after the victim's father, fearing humiliation, committed suicide in Dabra village of Haryana's Hisar district.

The relatives of the victim, who had earlier refused to claim the Dalit man's body for five days demanding the arrest of all the accused, have now alleged that police may not be arresting the alleged culprits as they all belong to financially and politically influential families.

Sources said that of the 12 accused, one is the nephew of former Indian National Lok Dal legislator Puran Singh Dabra and is still on the run. Two other absconding accused are nephews of another INLD leader, Umed Singh Lohan.

Yet another absconding accused comes from a family, which owns more than 30 acres of land in the Dabra village. The going rate (approximate) for an acre of land in the area is Rs 3.5 crore.

"A few of the accused belong to very rich families. We have identified almost all of them, but cannot divulge their identity due to legal complications," a senior Haryana police officer said.

He added that once they are arrested, the accused will be produced in the court. "If the rape victim identifies them, the accused's identity can be revealed," he added.

Meanwhile, sources in the Haryana police said that one of the arrested accused, belonging to the Yadav community, was produced in the court on Tuesday and identified by the victim.

Sources in the village, claim that the absconding accused, all 18 to 24 years old, were known for their nefarious activities. "They teased girls and assaulted villagers who opposed them. Some villagers have even complained to these boys' parents, but to no avail," a relative of rape victim said. "Even the police has developed cold feet, because of the accused's political connections."

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