Rape and gender crimes have been in the spotlight in India in recent years after the brutal gang rape and murder of a student in 2012 in Delhi. Days after two women were gang raped in the Mewat district of Haryana, one of them has come out to allege that therapists asked her if she ate beef. “They asked if we eat beef. We said we don’t, but they insisted we did. Then they said we’re hurting you before so you don’t and that if we tell anyone we’ll be insulted,” according to the sources the woman said in presence of activist Shabnam Hashmi in Delhi.
[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”]On the 24th of August, the 20 year old women and her 14 year old cousin were sexually assaulted by several other men at their home in Mewat. Their uncle and aunt were tied up and then later beaten up to death. The police, however, maintain that neither the women nor their families had mentioned these allegations earlier. Senior police officers say so far, no link to cow vigilante groups have emerged. The state government has recommended that the Central bureau of Investigation probe the case.
The Haryana Police had arrested four men in their 30s and initially booked them for rape and trespass Murder charges were added only when the locals protested.
“The main motive seems to have been rape, “according to the sources a cousin of the women said that at that farm where the attack took place. “The four arrested men are known troublemakers in the village and had been seen drinking the morning of the attack”.
According to the sources, over the past few months, there have been incidents of cow vigilante groups attacking suspected cattle smugglers. In June, a suspected lorry driver was beaten up for allegedly carrying beef. They have also complained against the biriyani shops on the Mewat highway, which have been raided by the police.
Muslim community leader, Ramzan Chaudhary, said people are shocked because such a horrific attack has never happened in Mewat before, Hindus and Muslims have always lived in peace in this area. It’s possible that this incident was planned to create religious tensions in the area.
Cow slaughter is illegal in Haryana along with sale and storage of beef. It is punishable by a 10-year jail term and/or fine of Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh.
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