By Shruti Sunderraman
The government of Himachal Pradesh has already displayed a shoddy hand at managing the horrific gangrape and murder of a minor girl in the Kothkai area of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Out of the 6 accused arrested, Nepalese national Surat Singh, died in custody. Citizens of Shimla, already agitated over the gangrape, turned downright violent over hearing the news of the accused’s death. So much so that a mob burned down a police station at Kothkai.
Under pressure from the protests and building tension surrounding the case, the government announced that the school of the 16-year-old victim would be raised to be a higher secondary school and that this higher secondary level portion would be named after her.
What. Is. Wrong. With. Them?
In the process of snowballing and wrapping up this case, the government has overlooked one fundamental law – that the name of the victim of rape/sexual assault should not be revealed under any circumstances during or after the investigation.
According to a report, this move came after Deputy Commissioner Rohan Chand Thakur and SP Soumya Sambasivan visited the family of the victim, who demanded the upgrade to the school, but did not specify that the school be named after her. Dhar Tarpunoo (Tali) school, where the victim studied, did not have a higher secondary provision, due to which she had to shift to a different school at a distance. She had to travel through woods where she was kidnapped to reach this school.
This is yet another disgusted case of dillydallying with ‘honouring’ victims of sexual assault instead of providing them justice.