Kanpur:
Just a few days after a girl was found dead inside a police station compound in Uttar Pradesh, two women have again been brutalised in Mayawati's state. An 18-year-old girl Dalit girl was raped and a 14-year-old was stabbed in her eyes because she dared to fight off rapists.
The 14-year-old was dragged to the fields by two men from her Ghur-purwa village of Kannauj - Kuldeep and Niranjan - both Samajwadi Party workers. When she resisted, they punched her in the face, stabbed her in the eyes and fled. She was discovered in the fields by villagers and was later rushed to the district hospital.
"There is a garden near the village and from where our daughter started shouting, so we all ran to that place," said her father.
They punched her on the nose. My daughter kicked him so he fell, they started beating her. They then stabbed her and ruptured both the eyes. They also hit her with a knife on the shoulder," said her mother.
Doctors say that she has lost vision in her left eye and the cornea of her right eye has been badly damaged.
"The left eye is completely damaged. The inner parts of the eye are severely damaged. The cornea is badly damaged, may not come back to its normal condition," said the doctor who operated upon her.
She has now been referred to a hospital in Kanpur for treatment.
Meanwhile, one of the accused, Niranjan, has been arrested. Kuldeep, however, is still on the run.
"The two accused are from the girl's village," said Rajendra Singh, Superintendent of Police, Kannauj.
A case of rape and attempt to murder has been registered against the two accused.
A constable and a sub-inspector have been suspended as they failed to register an FIR when the girl was first brought to the police station.
In the second incident, the 18-year-old dalit girl was allegedly raped in Ranipur Beladi village in Basti. Satti Singh, the man who allegedly raped her at gunpoint, is still missing.
A case has been registered and a manhunt for the accused has been launched, police said.
Meanwhile, the Congress slammed the Mayawati government over the law and order situation in the state saying it had lost its moral right to continue after such incidents.
"Mayawati should be ashamed. People expected more from a woman chief minister but she doesn't have a word of sympathy. She tries to shelter the police. The criminals and the police are all hand in glove," state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi said.
An unfazed Mayawati government, however, said there is no breakdown of law and order in the state and stern and prompt action was being taken against the culprits. The Chief Minister accused the opposition and the media of trying to mislead the people by raking up "old cases".
"The opposition parties want to corner me and my party. But I want tell that I am not going to accept defeat due to opposition's tricks. Because, unlike other leaders I have not come to politics through dynasty. I have worked on the ground and suffered. I know how to fight in tough times," the BSP supremo said.
(
With PTI Inputs)