A grieving mother has spoken of the devastating death of her 14-year-old daughter in India who was repeatedly raped and poisoned by a man who FIRST raped her last year.
The girl who cannot be named for legal reasons, from Burari, in Delhi, India’s capital city, went missing on May 15 and was held captive for 12 days before her attacker surrendered at a local police station.
She was rushed to hospital but on July 24, she died of her injuries.
Her 23-year-old attacker, Shivsankar, has now been arrested.
Her mother, aged 40, said: ‘She wanted to be a doctor, she had dreams, she was a special girl. But who will get us out of poverty now?”
Shivsankar first abducted the student on her way home from school, in December 2015, and raped her. He lived in the same area as the girl and often harassed her. After the family reported the rape attack to the police he was arrested and imprisoned for three months.
But the mother said her daughter was forced to drop the charges because Shivsankar’s family was threatening them.
Shivsankar was then released earlier this year.
But the teenager was due to testify at the on going trial in a Delhi court again on May 16 when Shivsankar kidnapped her.
The teenager and her family are part of the Dalit community, known as the low caste community in India. They are considered ‘untouchables’ by other castes. They inherently do manual works such as cleaning toilets, cleaning roads and cremation works. The caste system is still rife in India and the community are often treated poorly.
The girl’s parents, who both work as hospital cleaners, were at work when their daughter was kidnapped. When they returned home their 12-year-old son told them his sister was missing.
The couple searched the area frantically before going to the police.
The family waited for news of their daughter for eight days before the police finally called to tell them the two were at the station.
I just wanted to hug her but the police wouldn’t let me go to her. Shivsankar’s parents were also there. I was a mess.’
The girl was rushed to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital, in northern Delhi, where doctors confirmed she was raped.
But she was then transferred to Nariniketan clinic, where her health deteriorated.
The chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), Swati Maliwal, learned of the case through newspaper articles and got involved. She immediately issued a notice to the police demanding an explanation of their actions in the case.
Swati Maliwal made sure the victim was transferred to Shalimar Bagh Max Hospital, in north-west Delhi, for better treatment on July 17, where doctors confirmed the victim was forced to drink a corrosive substance which damaged her internal organs.
She was not able to eat anything for two months because her organs were badly damaged. She eventually fell into a coma before she died of her injuries on July 24.
Her body was sent back to her parents home on July 26th, before she was cremated at Nigam Bodh Ghat cremation ground.
Her mother said: ‘How will I live without her? She was my hope, my dream, my future. She was to become a doctor and we would go on to live a respectable life.
I cannot afford the expenses of justice and I have to live with that pain. It’s like I am dying inside. I am helpless.’
The family are now grieving at home, with no hope of justice for their daughter.
Swati Maliwal said of the case: ‘We do not know how many girls will lose their lives like this. It is a shame for the city and demands for tight security of people so that every individual especially women feel safe here.’
Dinesh Tyagi, Police constable at Burari Police Station said: ‘The key accused Shivshankar has been arrested and will be charged by the court after the investigation is ended. Further arrests in his group will be made only after the investigation is complete. As of now, three others including a woman are absconding’
