An 11-year-old minor girl in Varanasi lies in hospital with cigarette burns and bruises; two people arrested
As per the police’s report to the National Commission for Backward Classes, an enquiry into the case had revealed that the child was kept imprisoned at the home of the employers where she was beaten with iron rods and sustained severe injuries. The child is undergoing treatment at a trauma centre in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Earlier this month, Ishwar Charan (name changed) received a phone call from the employer at whose home his 11-year-old daughter worked as a domestic help, telling him to take away his minor child. “The employer called me and asked me to pick up my daughter and get her treated as she had fallen down the stairs and injured herself,” Charan, told Gaon Connection.
After the girl was brought home, her family members say they found cigarette burn marks and bruises all over her body. The girl’s father approached the Lanka police station to file an FIR and on July 19, the police registered a case under sections 342, 323 of the Indian Penal Code. They also invoked the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, section 75, and arrested two people.
“We have registered an FIR based on the statement of the victim’s father, and we have arrested two people and they are in jail now,” Vikas Chandra Tripathi, additional DCP, Kashi Zone, told Gaon Connection.
However, the matter is far from resolved. Instead it has gathered steam and is also taking a political turn as various politicians have started to raise questions around this case.
Whereas the family members allege that apart from physically abusing the 11-year-old, she was also sexually assaulted at her employer’s house, the police have denied such allegations.
Meanwhile, the minor girl is being treated at the trauma centre of the Institute of Medical Science at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi.
The assault
According to family members of the child, she was working as a domestic help at a residence in Dafi, a locality in Varanasi, over 300 kilometres from the state capital Lucknow. The father alleged that the girl had cigarette burn marks on her body and signs of bruising on her private parts. He claimed that his daughter’s employer and her son had abused her.
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After the daughter was brought home, she was kept home and medicated for a week, his father told Gaon Connection. But, when she showed no signs of improving, on July 19, she was first taken to the Kabir Chaura Hospital in Varanasi, and then moved from there to BHU’s trauma centre, he added.
Two days later, on July 21, she was discharged saying she was out of danger, said Charan, who is a carpenter and the family belongs to the backward class. The girl’s father accused the hospital of not providing proper treatment to his daughter. “They just gave some injections and medicines and asked me to take her home. My daughter could barely walk, how could I take her home,” he asked.
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The matter heated up when the family of the victim accused the hospital of forcefully discharging the patient. People from several political parties gathered there and started shouting slogans. Later that night, the child was readmitted.
Police denies mention of sexual abuse in FIR
The police while it did register an FIR, declared that there was no mention of sexual abuse in the statement the father had given, and a case has been registered accordingly.
In a press note, issued on July 20, the police stated, “The girl had been sent by her mother to work at the home of a known person, where the child was beaten. This came to light only when the girl complained to her mother much later. Senior police officers spoke to the girl’s father and the victim.”
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Meanwhile, on July 22, the National Commission for Backward Classes asked for the report from the police on the matter. In response, the additional commissioner of police, Varanasi, said, “Enquiry into the case had revealed that the child was kept imprisoned at the home of the employers where she was beaten with iron rods and sustained severe injuries. The accused were arrested and brought before the court on July 20 from where they were sent to judicial custody. Security has been arranged for the victim and her family.”
The BHU hospital authorities claim they had done the needful to treat the patient (11-year-old-girl). “It was only after we examined the child that she was discharged,” Saurabh Singh, in charge of the trauma centre, told Gaon Connection. He added that when she was brought from the Kabir Chaura Hospital to the trauma centre on July 19, the report did not mention that it was a case of sexual assault. “A team of our doctors treated the child and only after that did we refer the case to the district hospital, and discharged her,” Singh said.
But for now, the victim remains at the trauma centre of BHU under the care of its doctors.
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Legal loopholes
Talking about the case, Varanasi-based advocate Maya Agrahari, who was representing the victim, told Gaon Connection, “When I learnt of the child’s plight from Ishwar Charan who was, incidentally, doing some carpentry work for me, I accompanied her to the hospital on July 19.”
Agrahari alleged that the hospital authorities showed undue haste in discharging the patient when she could barely even walk. “It took six hours to admit her at the Kabir Chaura Hospital, and they referred her to the trauma centre where, once again, the authorities were in a hurry to discharge her,” she recounted. She claimed that she was not able to get either a medical report or a copy of the FIR.
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According to Agrahari, she even tried calling 1090, the women’s helpline number in the state. “After calling on the helpline, the police came and took the statement, but told us to complain at the Lanka police station, only after which the proceedings could move forward,” she said. At the Kabir Chaura hospital a male magistrate took the statement, she added.
However, Agrahari is no longer involved with the case.
Meanwhile, the case has also become politicised. On July 20, people from several political parties reached the trauma centre where the young girl was admitted. Former Congress minister, Ajay Rai was there, as was Ram Achal Rajbhar, Bahujan Samaj Party’s legislator from Ambedkar Nagar, who sat in dharna at the hospital. Members of Bhim Army and the youth Congress also staged a dharna at the trauma centre. Currently, the police are stationed there.
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According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), an agency under the Union home ministry responsible for collecting and analysing crime data, an average of 87 rape cases was recorded every single day in India, in 2019. The NCRB data shows that the rate of crime against women has risen by 7.3 per cent in 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018.
Uttar Pradesh reported most cases of violence against women in India. It also had the highest number of crimes against girl children under the POCSO Act with 7,444 cases, followed by Maharashtra (6,402).
Read the story in Hindi.