Chandigarh:
Leading women activists are protesting in front of the Haryana Bhavan today against the inaction of the government in tackling rapes in the state and atrocities on Dalit women. Prominent women activists like Aruna Roy, President of National Federation of Indian Women, and Rejani, President of RDMA are leading the protest.
In the past 34 days, 19 cases of rape have been reported in Haryana. In a recent case, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a food vendor outside her school in Fatehbad for over four months. The accused allegedly used to lure the teen with fruits and then rape her.
The suspect was arrested after the girl's father lodged a police complaint following a medical examination that confirmed rape on Saturday.
The girl, who is class 6 student in a government school, and her two sisters were expelled from school after the incident came to light.
As the number of rape cases in Haryana keeps growing at an alarming rate, the state government is scrambling to contain the situation. The Congress-led government in the state came under fire recently after one of its ministers said that 90 per cent of rapes are consensual.
"Child marriage itself is a statutory rape. How can ministers in Haryana suggest this?" Aruna Roy said, referring to a recent statement by former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, who agreed with the Khap Panchayats' suggestion of getting girls and boys married by the time they turn 16 to keep them from 'straying'.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had strongly contradicted the views of the khap when she visited the family of a Dalit girl from Jind who committed suicide after being gangraped.
In the past 34 days, 19 cases of rape have been reported in Haryana. In a recent case, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a food vendor outside her school in Fatehbad for over four months. The accused allegedly used to lure the teen with fruits and then rape her.
The suspect was arrested after the girl's father lodged a police complaint following a medical examination that confirmed rape on Saturday.
The girl, who is class 6 student in a government school, and her two sisters were expelled from school after the incident came to light.
As the number of rape cases in Haryana keeps growing at an alarming rate, the state government is scrambling to contain the situation. The Congress-led government in the state came under fire recently after one of its ministers said that 90 per cent of rapes are consensual.
"Child marriage itself is a statutory rape. How can ministers in Haryana suggest this?" Aruna Roy said, referring to a recent statement by former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, who agreed with the Khap Panchayats' suggestion of getting girls and boys married by the time they turn 16 to keep them from 'straying'.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had strongly contradicted the views of the khap when she visited the family of a Dalit girl from Jind who committed suicide after being gangraped.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
