JIH V-P Prof. Salim Engineer

New Delhi, 26 Sept. 2020: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has condemned the reported gang rape of a 19-year-old Dalit girl from a village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh.

In a statement issued to the media today, JIH Vice President – Prof Salim Engineer said: “Jamaat-e-Islami Hind condemns the alleged gang rape of a Dalit girl in Boolgarhi village, Hathras district, UP. It is reported that she is in the ICU at a hospital in Aligarh and on a ventilator, fighting for her life. Her tongue was cut off; the spinal cord severely injured and has several injuries on her neck. Four upper caste men have been charged with gang rape and attempt to murder along with the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The police have managed to arrest three of the accused. Reports suggest that the village has around 600-odd families of which only 15 families belong to the Dalit community. The Dalits always faced harassment and intimidation at the hands of the upper-caste villagers who make up around 400 families.”

Prof Salim Engineer averred: “We demand expeditious inquiry and trial of the case and expect the UP government to ensure that swift justice is delivered to the victim. Cases of rape and sexual harassment are on the rise in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Recently there have been cases of rape of minors in Maharajganj, Lakhimpur Kheri, Meerut and Greater Noida. The administration must take cognizance of this spike in sexual crimes by sprucing its law and order machinery. Crimes increase in places where criminals feel emboldened by weak law enforcement and feel that they can ‘manage’ the ‘system’ and go unpunished. The question of Dalit atrocities is a long unresolved problem in India and requires both society and the state to contribute in solving it. They remain barred from entry into places of worship, denied access to water facilities, and seating among other upper-caste villagers On the one hand, the state has to ensure that there will be zero-tolerance for any hate crime and Dalit atrocity and no violation of dignity will go unpunished. Moreover, social activists, religious leaders and political parties must take up the project of social engineering and motivate people to adhere to the principle of equality, universal brotherhood and human fraternity. The dream of economic prosperity despite gross income inequality and social injustice is a disillusionment that we can ill afford to harbor.”