Moradabad Dalit girls’ death: Suicide,not mob attack,say cops

The police has concluded that the girls committed suicide,unable to bear the harassment and taunts of neighbours over the arrest for their brothers for murder.

The Moradabad DIG,Ashok Kumar Singh,said the SHO of City Kotwali police station,Brahmapal Singh,had been shifted. The Assistant Superintendent of Police,Vinod Kumar Singh,who investigated the case,had recommended action against the SHO and the beat-in charge of Kothiwal Nagar locality for not initiating action over the harassment of the family.

The police also arrested three persons,one of them a woman. Senior sub-inspector of City Kotwali police station,Om Prakash Singh,said Satish Madan,Vinay Badula and Saniya Kohli had been arrested under Section 306 IPC (abetment of suicide) and Prevention of Atrocities on SC/ST Act.

He said they are held responsible for harassing the Dalit girls and her mother,driving the sisters to suicide. A case of murder was registered after Rajjo Devi,the mother of Geeta and Neetu alias Monu,had alleged that a mob had attacked her house,locked her up in a room and burnt alive her daughters.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has summoned senior district officers in connection with the incident on January 10.

A senior police officer said they have found evidence which shows that the girls had committed suicide. The postmortem did not show any ante-mortem injury,which were likely in case of a mob attack. Forensic tests showed that no one but the girls was present in the room at the time.

The findings are part of a preliminary report which will be submitted before the NCSC. The report also contains the statements of two constables and the four locals who first reached the spot and saw the bodies after breaking into the room,the official said.

Rajjo Devi,however,still maintains that a mob had stormed into her house and set her daughters on fire,said the officer. Besides the NCSC,the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) had sent teams to conduct inquiries into the incident. Both had blamed the district administration for its failure to save Rajjo Devi and her daughters from harassment after the arrest of her sons. In particular,they blamed the DIG,SP (City),CO (City) and the SHO.

The NCSC Chairman,PL Punia,had also visited the spot on December 29 after the visit of NCSC members Raju Parmar and NCSK member Swaraj Jeevan. Punia said the girls had been killed.

Rajjo Devi’s sons,Rakesh and Rajesh,had been framed in a case of robbery and murder. The case against Rakesh and Rajesh was registered after a local,Pankaj Gagneja,lodged a complaint alleging that they had robbed valuables from his house after killing his wife Pooja and daughter Sania on December 9.