Imrana rewind in Mewat

The victim, Rukhsana’s (name changed) family alleges that the police refused to lodge an FIR, a claim denied by local station head constable Deep Chand. ‘‘Nobody came to us to register an FIR. We have heard about the case, but we have received no formal complaint,’’ he said.

Rukhsana, eight months pregnant, had alleged that her father-in-law, Ismail, raped her 20 days ago when the family was returning from Tonka village. The family had made the trip to buy fodder and on their way back, Rukhsana claimed that her father-in-law asked her to ride pillion on his motorcycle while the family followed in a tractor.

‘‘She accused her father-in-law of stopping the bike in a secluded place and raping her,’’ said Salman Khan, a social worker at Nuh village in Mewat, who has been involved with the case. The allegations were made at the Maulana Siddique Madarsa at Nuh. ‘‘Both the woman and her father-in-law had given sworn statements to us which were sent to Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband. The reply from Deoband says the woman will continue to be married to her husband,’’ said Maulana Alauddin of the madarsa. ‘‘She will return to her in-laws’ house.’’ Both parties had given an affidavit that they would be bound by Deoband’s decision.

Reading out the Urdu communication from Deoband, Alauddin said: ‘‘The Shariat has ruled that the girl was lying on purpose and it was a fareb on her part to have made the allegation. Not only had her father-in-law denied her allegations but even Zakir, her husband, had refused to accept her charge. Also, she did not have a witness to substantiate her charge.’’

The Maulana added that the site of the crime, as alleged by Rukhsana, is an open ground. ‘‘Also, as per her statement, family members from her in-laws’ side were following on a tractor. So it is difficult to believe that none of them witnessed the crime.’’ Instead, he said Rukhsana had been instigated by her maternal uncle who had a grudge against her husband.

At Rukhsana’s parental house in Mohammad Bas village in Ferozepur Jhirka, they believe justice was not done. ‘‘We have no option but to accept the Deoband decision. But we haven’t got justice,’’ said Noor Mohammad, Rukhsana’s grandfather. He said the Ferozepur Jhirka police had refused to register their case.

There is another complication. Rukhsana’s younger sister is engaged to Zakir’s younger brother. ‘‘For us, both our daughters are as good as dead,” said a relative.