Nari Niketan: Was there more than one victim?

According to some observers,the Chandigarh Administration tried to hush up the matter and confine the probe to the rape of just one victim. Even the Chandigarh Police never raised the question.

The investigation,which was required to look into all aspects of the episode,has not yet answered if others inmates were also sexually exploited.

“There is a strong suspicion that other inmates could have faced similar treatment. Though nothing concrete has surfaced in our investigation so far,it might have happened to others,as a group was involved,” DSP Kulwant Singh Pannu,head of the special investigation team (SIT),told Newsline. “We have been concentrating on the FIR and doing proper investigation.”

While the police do not rule out more arrests,Newsline takes a look at those arrested so far.

FROM NARI NIKETAN
Bhupinder Singh (55)
He was the first person to be arrested in the case. Bhupinder worked as a security guard in the Shelter Home,housed in the campus of Nari Niketan. He allegedly lured the victim by promising her marriage.
According to the police,the teenaged girl,whose mental age is seven or eight,was lured so much into this dream that she fell into the trap. A police officer said when initially asked about it,she said,“Bhupinder paji is going to marry me.”
Even after the victim was shifted to Ashreya on March 13,2009,Bhupinder raped her. He went to the Government Institute for Mentally Retarded Children (GIMRC) in Sector 32,where the victim went to study,and raped her in the toilet.
A resident of Maloya,Bhupinder hails from Jandiala in Amritsar.

Kamla (40)
The sweeper-cum-attendant — the staff at Nari Niketan did odd jobs in addition to their duties — allegedly started luring the victim into marriage. She made her believe that she would be married to Bhupinder. Kamla,who lives in Sector 30,hails from Dharamgarh in Panipat. She was the second accused arrested.

Maya (37)
The nurse-cum-attendant assisted the men,an SIT member said. Maya,who hails from Shanti Nagar in Manimajra,maintained health records of the inmates. She has been booked under Section 201 of the IPC.

Bajinder Singh
Bijender and Bhupinder took the victim to a bathroom in the Shelter Home and took turns to rape her. Bajinder was a chowkidar at Shelter Home.
“There is a passage between Nari Niketan and Shelter Home. Kamla would take the girl outside the Nari Niketan building on the pretext of indulging her in sweeping and cleaning work. The victim would be taken to an unused toilet in the Shelter Home,where she would be raped,” a member of the SIT said. Bajinder hails from Tihri Garhwal,Uttarakhand.

Jamna Kumar Rana (54)
The security guard manned the main gate of Nari Niketan. He took the victim to the toilet inside the security guard room near the main gate — she had herself led investigating officers to the toilet — and raped her,while Maya stood guard at the main gate. Rana hails from Nepal.

FROM ASHREYA

Chhotu Ram
The security guard allegedly made the first successful attempt to rape the girl on March 15,two days after she was shifted from Nari Niketan. Chhotu who hails from Kangra,in Himachal Pradesh,was arrested on December 23 last year when his DNA matched with that of the newborn baby.

Bhagwandin Yadav
The attendant to the only male inmate of Ashreya raped the victim in the toilet. He had access to the victim because he was always present in the building. He was arrested on December 26. He hails from Faizabad in UP and lives in the Industrial Area.

Naresh Kumar
A driver employed at GIMRC,Naresh stayed in Halfway Home,located in the campus of Ashreya,where he did odd jobs like fixing the curtains. He frequently visited the inmates’ rooms,which gave him access to the victim. A resident of Mohali,he was arrested on January 12 this year.

Devinder Singh (24)
The attendant in the male wing of Ashreya was arrested with Naresh on January 12. The four accused of Ashreya were hand-in-glove with each other and took turns to rape the victim. A resident of Mauli Jagran,Devinder was employed in Ashadeep in Sector 31 when he was arrested.
There is only one regular employee among the 33 people employed at Ashreya — one warden,one clerk,one social worker,one dietician,one music teacher,one cook,four nurses,nine security guards,nine attendants and four sweepers. Ashreya is managed by the GMCH-32 and Nari Niketan by the Department of Social Welfare.

Same security agency provides guards to Ashreya
The security agency,which provided security guards to both Nari Niketan and Ashreya,hasn’t been questioned so far. At present,the same security agency provides guards to Ashreya,sources said.
On Thursday,the Punjab and Haryana High Court had issued notices to Chandigarh DC and SSP on a PIL,which stated that private security agencies were providing services to government institutes.
Chief Justice M Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh had remarked that these firms operated without verifying antecedents of the guards. In addition,they were deployed without undergoing any training,leading them to commit crimes.
“The security agencies should be put under the scanner,as sometimes they hire people no less than goons. How can one expect everything to be okay then? Cases like Nari Niketan can happen again,” a police officer said.

CASE TIMELINE
* March 13: The victim shifted from Nari Niketan,Sector 26,to Ashreya,Sector 47.
* May 18: Rape case surfaces; victim two-month pregnant.
* July 17: High Court orders medical termination of pregnancy.
* July 20: Supreme Court sets aside HC order; orders continuation of pregnancy.
* December 3: Victim gives birth to a baby girl.
* December 23: Ashreya employee Chhotu Ram identified as the baby’s biological father.
* December 26: Ashreya employee Bhagwandin Yadav arrested.
* January 2: Two men arrested for allegedly raping the victim in Ashreya.