WE HAVE ALWAYS struggled, but never faced such darkness,” said the father of a seven-year-old girl who was gangraped and killed in the village of Bhadras in Kanpur on November 14. The girl’s liver was carved out in a horrifying ritual that was supposed to help a childless couple beget an offspring.
The girl hailed from the Kureel (or Kuril) dalit community, which is the third largest chunk of Bhadras’s population. It is a caste that has long worked in Kanpur’s leather industry and also participated in reform movements.
The girl was the fourth of five children in the family. Her parents work as agricultural labourers on the farms of upper caste landowners in the village and as seasonal workers in brick kilns. The five people named in the initial First Information Report and those added in the amended FIR (which includes charges under the National Security Act) come from the same caste and similar economic background.
On the evening of Diwali, the girl had stepped out of her house to play before the festivities began. She was allegedly lured by her neighbour Ankul with firecrackers. “We set out to look for her when it was time for the puja. A girl from the neighbourhood said she had gone with Ankul. We informed the police around 10pm and they too searched for her. But we could not find her,” said her father.
The child’s naked, mutilated body was discovered the next morning in a wooded area adjacent to the village. Her blood-soaked slippers lay at some distance.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 29, 2020-Ausgabe von THE WEEK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 29, 2020-Ausgabe von THE WEEK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
