New Delhi: The demand
for an indpendent probe into the alleged atrocities against
farmers of Uttar Pradesh's Bhatta-Parsaul village intensified
Saturday as the National Comission for Women (NCW) slammed the
state government for molestation and rape of village women, and
sought a CBI inquiry.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), effectively
supporting the claims of Congress G]general secretary Rahul Gandhi
who staged a daylong sit-in in the village, demanded a judicial
probe.
Yasmeen Abrar, acting chairperson of the National Commission for
Women (NCW), demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
probe into the incidents after a visit by its team to the affected
areas and slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for not registering
any first information report (FIR) on complaints of victims and
not posting women police in the area.
"We have prepared a preliminary report which states that the women
in the village have been molested and sexually assaulted. There
are allegations that they have been raped but it could be
confirmed only after all the investigations are over," Abrar said.
The village in Greater Noida, near the Indian capital, has become
the epicentre of the farmer's protest for higher compensation of
takeover of their land after May 7 violence that killed four
people, including two policemen.
An NCW team which visited the village May 12 noticed ransacked
homes, horrified women, hungry and helpless children and bones of
human beings lying in the ashes on the ground.
"There are bones of human beings lying with the ashes of burnt
bodies. The family members of the villagers have been burnt alive.
The burnt houses bear the marks of flames on the walls. Villagers,
especially women, are not just broken, but terrified," said Abrar.
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said the original problem of
the farmers was being overlooked in the controversy created by
Gandhi's allegations about rape of women and discovery of bones in
ashes, which have been denied by the Mayawati government.
"The irony is the original problem is getting lost in the whole
controversy, that is the inadequate compensation to the farmers,"
Sitharaman told IANS.
Sitharaman said that only an independent inquiry can ascertain the
truth of what happened in the village.
"The NCW is a statutory body, they have found some facts and given
a report, but what we are asking is for an independent inquiry. We
are demanding a judicial inquiry in the action done by the state
government," she said.
Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi also favoured a judicial
probe. "A judicial inquiry will find precisely that (facts),"
Singhvi said answering queries.
He wondered why the Mayawati government in the state was not
agreeing to a judicial probe when statutory panels like the NCW
had come out with their reports.
The NCW team visited Bhatta-Parsaul after a delegation of
villagers met its officials and alleged rape, molestation and
sexual assault of women by policemen. The report will be given to
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Supporting Gandhi's claim that women were molested in the village,
the report said the women alleged that a group of about 10-12
policemen tore their clothes, paraded them naked and teased them.
Abrar said she did not believe in the forensic report of the state
government which denied the presence of any human bones in the
heaps of ashes in the village. "We have got certain proofs and
pictures, which we cannot disclose now, to prove it."
She expressed surprise at Chief Minister Mayawati not visiting the
affected village though her native village of Badalpur is "only 15
km away".
"Being a woman, she should have been more senistive to atrocities
against women," Abrar said.
Gandhi surprised the Mayawati government by his visit to
Bhatta-Parsaul village after the May 7 violence. He was arrested
and later released.
Gandhi also met the prime minister with a delegation of farmers
from Bhatta-Parsaul and handed over pictures of ashes with bones,
injured people and ransacked houses.
He quoted villagers speaking of "mass murders, repression and
rapes" by police in the village.
An 11-member team comprising retired judges, lawyers, social
activists, civil society members and some NCW members would be
visiting the village in a couple of days to work on the second
report.
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