Six Women Gangraped At Gunpoint In Bihar, Protests Rage On

NEW DELHI: A Bhojpur bandh, a Bihar-wide protest and a protest demonstration at Bihar Bhawan is being organised by CPI(ML) tomorrow, Oct 13 to protest against the rape at-gunpoint of 6 women in Bihar and demand justice for the rape survivor.

Even earlier, hundreds of people blocked the Fatehpur-Sikarhatta road and activists from CPI-ML even took out a procession in Ara town in protest against the incident.

A shockingly horrifying incident of rape took place in Kurmuri village, Bihar when 4 minor girls and 2 women, all ragpickers from the Mahadalit community of Dumaria village, visited a scrap dealer in Kurmuri village of Bhojpur. The scrap dealer, Neelnidhi Singh, a known Ranveer Sena area commander, held them captive at gunpoint and along with two associates, raped the women.

The three men allegedly took them to an isolated place at gunpoint ,tied them with ropes and forced alcohol down their throats before taking turns to rape them, the police said.

All the three accused, Neelnidhi Singh, his brother Jayaprakash Singh and Jaggu Pandit have now been arrested, though the incident happened on Wednesday. Neelnidhi Singh is a scrap dealer and former area commander of Ranveer Sena, a now defunct private militia of landlords that was active in central Bihar in the 1980s and '90s.

The women reported in their complaint that they had gone to sell junk at Neelnidhi's shop at Kurmuri on Wednesday evening and were asked to wait on the pretext that there was no change to pay them. The women then agreed to stay there overnight since it was already dark.

However, the accused soon, brandishing pistols took the women to an isolated place, tied them with ropes and forced alcohol down their throats before taking turns to rape them.

It was only the next day, on Thursday ,when the women narrated the ordeal to their families that the matter was reported to the police.

The Chief Minister of Bihar, Jitan Ram Manjhi, on Friday directed the district magistrate (DM) and superintendent of police (SP) of Bhojpur to jointly inquire into the matter and submit the report within a week.

"The charge sheet against the accused should be filed at the earliest for a speedy trial of the case. The officials found lacking in discharge of their duties should also be punished as per rules," Manjhi said.

Bhojpur SP Rajesh Kumar said a case has been registered and deputy SP Krishna Kumar Singh has been asked to investigate.

The CM also directed for immediate payment of compensation to the victims under the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. He further ordered the Bhojpur district magistrate to provide alternative employment to these victims in government run schemes.

However, this deplorable case raises some significant questions.

Had action been taken against Neelnidhi Singh, the main accused, in previous, pending cases, would he have been free to indulge in this incident, and would he be still audacious enough to commit another heinous crime?

Had the Amir Das Commission not been scrapped by Nitish Kumar’s government, which was about to expose the political (mostly BJD and JDU) links of the Ranveer Sena and the serial acquittals of massacre-accused Ranveer Sena men; would such incidents still be on the rise?

The recent eviction of mahadalits in Gaya, the attack on Dalits on Independence Day at Baddi have all been warning signals which points out to the sense of impunity and boldness of these feudal forces.

It is only doleful that such incidents are occurring even now, at a time, when the state’s head is himself a Mahadalit.