“They dragged her to the courtyard, Manmod pinned her (down). and Premnarayan Raghuvanshi axed her hand.” says Mamtabai, pointing to sister Kamlabai at Hamidia Hospital here.The attack was allegedly sparked by Kamlabai Irpache’s refusal to withdraw a rape complaint against some upper caste farmers and one of her relatives.Kamlabai, a tribal who alleges she was raped in Nigri village yesterday, said: “They barged into the hut around 4 am, abused me and later chopped off my hand. I fell unconscious.”Queering the pitch, however, police have refused to register the sisters’ complaint, questioning their credibility and character instead. Kamlabai and Mamtabai have allegedly filed at least three separate rape complaints in the past against the accused.Raisen SP Jagat Singh Sansanwal, who visited the spot along with district collector Arun Bhatt, says the entire village has turned against the sisters for allegedly harassing villagers by lodging false rape complaints.Police say Kamlabai and Mamtabai are instigated by Tulsi — Mamtabai claims she is married to him although villagers dispute this — who is thought to be trying to settle scores against his uncle Manmod. The village has even passed a resolution — signed by the sarpanch among others — against the sisters accusing them of lodging false complaints to make money.Sansanwal says: “It’s true that the woman’s hand was chopped off but we are not sure who did it. We are not ruling out foul play. We will investigate the matter before arriving at any conclusion.”
