Bhopal: Woman molested, left bed ridden; SIT to investigate further

A month after a 24-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted in Bhopal by an unidentified man, which left her with serious injuries, Madhya Pradesh police Friday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe if there were any lapses in the investigation. The police also invoked more stringent provisions relating to sexual assault and attempt to murder.

Serious charges of attempt to rape and attempt to murder were imposed only on Friday even though the incident reportedly occurred on January 16.

Sources close to the family stated that the woman’s mother approached Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan complaining about the police handling of the case two days ago.

The assault took place on January 16, when the woman, who was walking near JK Hospital in Kolar area of Bhopal, was allegedly pushed into a ditch and attacked by the man. He not only forced himself on her but also hit her with stones. In her complaint, the woman said she pleaded with him to spare her life as she was being brutally attacked. The fall into the ditch also left her paralysed.

The woman was beaten so much that she had injuries on her head, neck and back. After being hospitalised for nearly 10 days, the victim was discharged from the hospital on January 25. Currently, the victim is bed-ridden at home under the supervision of her mother. The girl has a rod placed in her spine. Apart from this, the girl has been covered under a plastic casing so she doesn’t move and affect the screws placed in her spine.

Congress is cornering the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh over the handling of the case. Former party president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter and wrote, “Even after a month, the Bhopal rape victim is far from justice as the BJP always blames the victim for the rape and relaxes the proceedings which benefit the culprits”. “This is the truth of the government’s ‘Beti Bachao’,” he wrote.