A 17-year-old girl died by suicide in a village in Moradabad on Sunday (19th March), 10 days after she was allegedly molested by 3-4 men, The Indian Express reported.
The girl, a Class 12 student, left behind a two-page suicide note, in which she accused the police of inaction, a grievance echoed by her family after they filed a molestation complaint on March 8.
In her suicide note, the girl alleged that the police took no action because the accused were “rich”. She named the accused and alleged that they threatened to kill her and her parents, following which she stopped going to school.
In her letter, the girl wrote, “These people didn’t even let my dream come true…I no longer have the courage to face them. However, my family should not suffer. Sir [authorities], will you please listen now? Punish the men after my death…so that poor girls can live and …fulfil their dreams.”
“They used to threaten me that they would kill my parents. They would climb up the terrace and threaten me with knives. When my parents found out, they filed a complaint but nobody did anything,” she continued.
The girl’s father, a farm labourer, told The Indian Express his daughter had big dreams. “She would have been the first person in the family to go to college. She wanted to study in Delhi and become a teacher. I was ready to take loans for her studies because, I thought, this would be our way out of poverty. I was shocked when she stopped going to school. My daughter was a fighter but they pushed her to do this…” he said.
Blaming his daughter's death on police inaction and apathy for the poor, he continued, “I first caught the men on Holi inside my house. My daughter was crying while they were pulling her and thrashing her. We saved our daughter, and they threatened to kill me. I approached the police but they [cops] scolded my daughter. They acknowledged our complaint only after 2-3 days but didn’t arrest anyone. Nobody cared because we are poor. My daughter died because the police didn’t do anything.”
The girl’s elder sister said the accused had also shot a video of the girl bathing and that the harassment had been going on for a long time. “I found out about Vikesh last month. She told me to not react. We were scared as they would threaten us with pistols and knives. Vikesh and his friends stalked my sister for months. They also shot a video of my sister when she was taking a bath as our bathroom is on the terrace. On Sunday, my parents and I were out shopping when she drank something and told me in the evening that she doesn’t want to live… we took her to a hospital but she died,” she said.
One of the girl’s friends told the publication that she had seen the accused touching her inappropriately. “She never told me about the accused. I had only seen Vikesh once touching her inappropriately. She got scared and ran. We didn’t fight with him because he is always roaming around with goons. I don’t know what happened. She was always positive. She would even help me with my work,” the friend said.
Sub-Inspector, SI Sachin Malik, was suspended for not handling the complaint properly, Moradabad SSP Hemraj Meena told the media. “The accused lives next to the girl’s house. Her family lodged a complaint of molestation on March 8 and the accused was detained. He was later released on bail. We have suspended SI Sachin Malik for not taking appropriate legal action. We have arrested two of the accused named in the note,” the SSP said.
A case has been registered against the accused for sexual harassment of a minor, outraging the modesty of a woman, disrobing, voyeurism, stalking, house trespass, criminal intimidation and abetment to suicide. While two of the accused, Vikesh and Amrut have been arrested, two others are absconding.