Rape accused in Tikri border case to be brought to justice: Anil Vij

| | Chandigarh
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Rape accused in Tikri border case to be brought to justice: Anil Vij

Tuesday, 11 May 2021 | PNS | Chandigarh

After the state police filed an FIR against six persons in connection with rape of a 25-year-old activist associated with the farmers' agitation at the Tikri border, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Monday said that the all the six accused named in the FIR would be arrested soon and brought to justice.

“Such crimes cannot be allowed on the pretext of farmers' agitation. It is really unfortunate,” Vij said while talking to the mediapersons in Ambala on the issue of alleged rape case. The Minister said that each and every accused would be arrested.

The victim from West Bengal had died of Covid-19 at a hospital in Jhajjar’s Bahadurgarh on April 30.

Notably, the state police have registered a case against six people including two women on the complaint of the victim's father, who alleged that the accused, who were associated with the 'Kisan Social Army', travelled with her in a train from West Bengal on April 10.

The deceased father said that the accused worked with ‘Kisan Social Army’, the IT cell of farmers’ group protesting against the three central farm laws passed in September last year. In his complaint, he said the woman was sexually harassed while travelling and on reaching the border she was gang raped.

On the night of April 25, as per the police, she was admitted to a private hospital in Bahadurgarh for treatment of COVID-19. She died there on April 30.

In his complaint, the victim's father alleged the main accused — Anil Malik and Anup Singh — also tried to kidnap her. The other accused are Ankush Sangwan, Jagdish Barad, Kavita Arya and Yogita Suhag.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by the DCP (Bahadurgarh), has been formed by the government to conduct a probe into the matter. Anup Singh, who is one of the accused in the alleged rape case has claimed that the allegations against him are a conspiracy to defame farmers' agitation. In a video message, Singh said that there was an incident of assault on-board a train, but the allegations of rape at the Tikri border are false.

Culprits should be punished. But rape accusations are wrong, he claimed.

A day before the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the group of protesting farmers unions, had issued a statement stating that it “stands with the struggle for justice for the deceased woman colleague and is committed to taking this fight for justice to its logical conclusion.”

It said the tents and banners, etc., of the so-called Kisan social army have been removed.

“The accused were barred from participating in the movement and public appeal was issued for their social boycott. The SKM has made it clear that the Kisan social army was never the authorized social media voice of the SKM and none of its handles have anything to do with the movement. In addition to these steps, from day one the SKM has assured the family of the deceased colleague that it will extend them every possible support in any legal recourse that they prefer,” said its statement.

“The SKM will extend full cooperation to the police in bringing out the truth of this matter. No one shall be spared,” added the statement.

Hundreds of farmers from northern states of Punjab and Haryana have been camping at Haryana's borders with Delhi at Singhu and Tikri for over six months, demanding a repeal of the three agriculture reform laws enacted by the Centre in September last year.

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