A 60-year-old man was ordered to be beaten with shoe slaps by a Panchayat in Uttar Pradesh’s Sardhana area. The man identified as Raj Kumar of Chandna village allegedly molested an 11-year-old girl last Monday.
According to reports, the girl was left alone in their home after her parents went to work in the fields. Kumar noticed the girl was home unaccompanied and allegedly snuck into the residence and molested her. A villager chanced upon Kumar but after being found out, the incident turned into a caste issue.
Since both the girl and the elderly perpetrator belong to different castes, each community supported their own member.
According to the The Times of India, a Panchayat meeting was organized the following day to deliberate on the issue. The Panchayat passed an order to beat the 60-year-old Kumar with shoes by the villagers and then had him expelled.
Villagers who attended the meeting immediately complied and began to thrash and hit the old man with shoes. After his punishment had been carried out, Kumar was asked to leave the village.
Although police were informed about the crime, this was only done after the Panchayat had executed its verdict.
A case was filed under Section 354 (criminal force to any woman with an intention of dis-robing her of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act).
Sardhana SHO Brijesh Kumar said the accused has been detained and jailed. The SHO further stated that the police were not made aware of any order passed by the Panchayat. Police also denied that any such proceeding by the Panchayat had taken place.
Meanwhile, another young village girl was allegedly raped and murdered last Monday in Haryana's Palwal district. A 22-year-old man is accused of raping a 7-year-old girl and then strangled her to death.
Police reports said the gruesome crime occurred when the girl’s parents were not at home. Their neighbor, identified as Anand, was said to have taken the girl to the field where he sexually assaulted her and killed her.
Upon returning to their home, the girl’s parents lodged a missing complaint having realized she was not to be found. During the investigation, it was found that Anand had skipped work on the day of the incident. He was detained and subjected to “intense questioning,” at which he eventually confessed to the crime.
Police reports said they found the body of the girl in a pit where Anand had thrown her.
