Murthal rape: Women activists welcome court order, demand action against police

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Jan. 20 (ANI): Welcoming the Punjab and Haryana High Courts' orders to track the accused involved in the mass kidnapping and rape case during the Jat agitation for reservation last year, social activist Abha Singh on Friday said it is important to take action against the police officers who tried to cover up the rape. "It is necessary that the Haryana police officers who tried to cover up the rape should be arrested immediately under the India Penal Code (IPC). An independent SIT is a must to get justice to the women who were raped in the Murthal gang-rape and also the role of the police and the rapist in the Jat agitation need to be brought to book," Singh told ANI. Echoing similar sentiments, another women activist Nirmala Samant also supported the decision taken by the courts. Earlier in the day, the Punjab and Haryana High Courts ordered the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations and to track the accused involved in this kidnapping and rape case reported during the Jat agitation. At least 30 people were killed and over 320 injured in the nine-day long Jat agitation for reservation in February last year. There were reports that women had been dragged out to the fields and raped during the violence that ensued. The Haryana Government had initially denied the reports of rape, but admitted in April that there could be a possibility of the same. The SIT report earlier said that no victim of the alleged mass gang-rape or molestation had come forward to lodge a complaint. The High Court, taking suo motu notice of reports in the media about the gang-rapes, had asked the Haryana Government and Police to submit a status report and appointed lawyer Anupam Gupta as amicus curiae. (ANI)