Rape victim beaten on khap order for filing FIR in Chhattisgarh

Bhopal: An alleged rape victim, a 14-year-old girl, in a Chhattisgarh village was assaulted in public for filing an FIR against the accused (65) following a diktat by the local khap panchayat, the police said on Tuesday.

Two videos capturing the male and female members of the village beating the alleged rape victim, has gone viral forcing the local police to begin a probe into it.

The horrific incident took place in the village of Bishnupur under Bande police limits in Chhattisgarh’s north Bastar district of Kanker, police said on Tuesday. “The police has seized the two videos and begun probe into it,” Kanker district additional superintendent of police R.K. Jaiswal said.

According to the police, the minor girl lodged an FIR in the Bande police station a couple of days ago alleging rape by one Nirasu Biswas (65) of her village.

The accused was arrested and later remanded to judicial custody.

Later, several elders of the village called a meeting to ‘settle the matter out of court’.

The khap panchayat allegedly called for production of the girl before them and ordered her punishment in public, preliminary probe by police has revealed.

While in one video clip, the male members of the village were seen slapping the girl after accusing her of falsely implicating the elder of the village, in the other video, the women were seen kicking her like a football.

With her eyes downcast, the hapless girl was seen trying to escape from the clutches of the irate villagers.