3 min readNew DelhiSep 28, 2016 02:49 AM IST
First published on: Sep 28, 2016 at 02:41 AM IST
The committee interacted with the families of the victims, local villagers and district officials, including Mewat Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma and S P Kuldeep Singh.
A NATIONAL minority panel, which visited Mewat last week to look into gangrape and murder case that took place in August, has noted in its report that the incident has “shaken” people in the area. It also emphasised that there is a need to convey a clear message that the “culprits of such heinous crimes would not be spared”.
“The incident has shaken the people of the area and there is lot of resentment, especially among the Muslim community, partly due to the allegations that the culprits were gau rakshaks. There is a need to convey a clear message that culprits of such heinous crimes would not be spared. Such a step is more relevant in context of the Mewat district,” the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) said in its report, which has been approved at a meeting of the panel Tuesday.
A two-member delegation of the NCM, comprising its Chairman Naseem Ahmad and panel member Praveen Davar, had visited Dingerheri village of Mewat district on September 22 to look into the incident.
The committee interacted with the families of the victims, local villagers and district officials, including Mewat Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma and S P Kuldeep Singh.
A family member told the panel that they had no enmity with anybody in the village or outside. “Most of the persons who interacted with us at the crime spot were critical of the role of the police so far,” said the panel.
The incident took place in the intervening hours of August 24 and August 25. On August 28, Haryana Police had arrested four youths in connection with the incident.
One of the Mewat gangrape victims recently alleged that their attackers were cow vigilantes but the Haryana police Friday said no evidence has come to fore so far.
The NCM, however, said people at the crime spot told them that the rape victim had stated that the accused persons had confronted them about whether they ate beef. “But this fact has been omitted from the statement recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC and that the accused persons were gau rakshaks,” said the panel, quoting locals.
In its recommendations, the NCM said, “The role of police in handling the case is also being widely criticised. Although the state government transferred the case to the CBI, since law and order is the state subject, the government is well advised to take steps to promote communal harmony and restore people’s confidence in the functioning of the police.”
The committee interacted with the families of the victims, local villagers and district officials, including Mewat Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma and S P Kuldeep Singh.
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