As legislators hustle over seats to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, citizens are left at the mercy of criminals who seem to be working overtime in Uttar Pradesh (UP).
The brunt of many incidents of violence are being borne by women and children. Many crimes reported of late are not committed by strangers but by those known to the victims.
In less than 24 hours double murders have been reported just this week from Budaun, Prayagraj and Kanpur. All the three murders are committed by either neighbours or relatives.
While two cousin brothers were burnt alive in a village in district Kanpur, two children were beaten to death by an aunt in Prayagraj. A local barber walked into the home of his neighbour to kill two children and to injure a third in Budaun.
“There is no love lost amongst citizens anymore. The community does not matter. We no longer feel safe it seems even amongst our neighbours and family members,” regretted a senior citizen in Lucknow, folding away the day’s newspaper full of news of murder here, and loot there.
Criminals are also on the prowl but much of the violence committed these days is out of anger and hate by ordinary citizens. Very often the murderer is well known to the victim. The reason for arousing extreme anger in people today is mostly due to rage over complex feelings of personal injustice.
It looks like an unfair distribution of family property had probably led to the double murder of two cousins who were burnt alive in district Kanpur. The aunt who lost her mind and beat two of her nephews aged six years and three years to death in Prayagraj was angry with her sister-in-law. The deranged aunt is now on the run, and hunted by the police.
The barber came to his neighbour’s home in Budaun in Western UP armed with an axe to hack three brothers and had demanded Rs 5,000. In the horrific attack that followed, 12-year-old Ayush and eight-year-old Ahaan succumbed to their injuries while the condition of nine-year-old Yuvraj remains critical. The accused was chased by the police and was killed in an encounter.
Angered at the bloodshed caused by the barber, villagers had torched his shop, resulting in deep gloom in the already dismal countryside. All the above cases are still being investigated to find out the real cause of the violence.
Violence Against Women And Girls
In other incidents around the state, two minor girls, aged 13 and 16, were allegedly raped on two separate occasions in Agra and Aligarh districts, respectively. In Agra a class eight student was held captive in a hotel room and gang raped by three men last week.
According to a complaint lodged on March 17 by the victim’s father, the girl had gone to a local hotel on March 15 and was confined to a room, the police said.
The main accused raped her, and after a few hours, two other employees of the hotel took turns to rape her. She was confined to the room till March 16 and on reaching home the same evening she told her parents about the incident. Soon after the father of the victim lodged a complaint with the police.
In Aligarh district, a 16-year-old was allegedly being raped and blackmailed by a man since June last year. According to a complaint filed by the minor’s mother, the 22-year-old accused had befriended her on Instagram.
He had later called her to a hotel in Aligarh in June last year where the manager was his friend. The girl was raped in the hotel room and also filmed after which she was blackmailed.
The victim had already paid him Rs 45,000 and he had demanded Rs 50,000 more, threatening to release the rape video on social media. After the money was refused to him the second time, the accused had released the video. He was arrested and sent to jail on March 18.
A seven-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped by an unidentified man in a village in the Bareilly district, according to the police. The class two student was collecting flowers with two friends when a stranger coaxed them to sit on his bicycle for a ride. A little later, the accused took the victim aside and allegedly raped her in a field.
Vulnerable Policewomen
Even policewomen do not feel safe in UP today. A female constable in Jalaun district filed a complaint last week against a male constable accusing him of misbehaving with her, and raping her. A committee was formed on the basis of the complaint and based on the committee’s report a case has been registered against the accused.
In another part of UP, the owner of a poultry farm was so enraged with his driver that he shot him in the chest after a heated argument last week. The driver, Manish Singh is in hospital in a critical condition.
The driver had been working at the poultry farm for at least a decade and yet the owner did not think twice before trying to kill him.
A Bizarre Attack
When citizens are not at each other’s throat in UP, they are attacked and tortured by other creatures. A funeral procession of some 50 people was hurt by an army of bees on the outskirts of Lucknow last Wednesday.
The besieged mourners had disturbed a bee hive as they walked under a fig tree. Once surrounded by the bees the crowd had dispersed in haste. However the corpse of 80-year-old Molhe was abandoned in the panic but whose cremation eventually did take place later the same evening.