Aniruddha Ghosal, Pritha Chatterjee : MuzaffarnagarSun Sep 29 2013, 09:53 hrs
Muzaffarnagar
Weeks after Muzaffarnagar violence, women allege rape in written complaints

Weeks after the Muzaffarnagar communal violence, four women, all from Fugana village, have alleged rape in written complaints to the police. The Fugana police station has registered two cases of rape and one case of molestation so far.

Confirming this, Kalpana Saxena, SP (Crime), Muzaffarnagar, said, “The matter has been transferred to the special investigation team of the Uttar Pradesh Police.”

 

While two complaints were filed on September 20, the third was filed on September 24, and the last on September 28. In two cases, the husbands of the victims, now living in relief camps, filed the complaints. One victim is a 23-year-old unmarried woman, while the rest are aged between 35 and 45 years.

 

The Sunday Express has copies of all the complaints. Two victims, in separate complaints, have alleged that five-six men forced their way into their houses and raped them. Another victim has said her house was set on fire, and when she was fleeing, six men threatened her with weapons, forced her inside a nearby house, and raped her.

 

“We are receiving complaints from all over Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and other districts. Since Fugana is one of the worst-hit areas in the district, it also has the highest number of complaints,” said Saxena, adding that it took time to sift through these complaints and lodge cases.

“Complaints which have been lodged as rape cases mention the actual act of rape, others speak of sexual harrasment in vague terms. Those have been registered under sections pertaining to molestation,” said a senior police officer.

Saxena said the police have only examined 200 riot-related complaints so far, and there were hundreds left.

“When violence broke out on September 8, my husband was at my daughter’s house. I ran out… five men blocked my path, and forced me inside my own house. They were all men I knew… They raped me till I became unconscious,” said a victim.

According to camp organisers, the complaints started coming in after police officials began visiting the camps. “It was impossible for my wife to go to the police station… It took some time to convince her to even speak to the police officer who came here,” said the husband of a victim.

 

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