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CHANDIGARH: A network working for the rehabilitation of rape survivor dalit girls and women has accused Haryana government of patronizing the accused from upper castes and using sexual assault of women as tool to prevent socially backward people from educational, social and economical growth.The outfit – Women Against Sexual Violence and Repression (WSS) – has sought practical implementation of counselling and educational rehabilitation of rape survivors and strict enforcement of laws related to protection of dalits. Kalyani Menon Sen, an activist attached with WSS, justified her allegation saying, “Dalit children going to government schools in villages are the first layer of victims. They stop going to school after any girl falls victim to such a crime. They are not rich enough to go to any other school. Hence, they will remain educationally backward. Once they are educationally backward, they will not be able to compete with upper caste or those socially superior to them. Hence, sexual offences against dalits are being used as tool now,” she said.

Accompanied by team members, Mary John and Rajat Kalsan, a Hisar-based advocated who pleaded the cases of Mirchpur victims and rape survivors in Haryana, Kalyani elaborated on the incidents while alleging shoddy investigation of rape cases by police.

Kalsan spoke about the probe into the gang rape of a girl from Dabra village of Hisar. “It was only after the victim’s family approached the Haryana DGP and the home secretary, the state government filed an appeal against four out of eight accused challenging their acquittal by the trial court in Hisar. Even during preliminary investigation, police were about to close the case due to biased probe to favour the accused,” he alleged.

Rape survivors find humane touch missing

Two years after the incident, the survivor of Dabra gang rape case is fighting to come out of the trauma. She alleges non-cooperation from the college principal and local administration pertaining to counselling and humane touch to help her come to terms with the gruesome incident. “My classmates and villagers still have a different attitude towards me. The college principal too tried to ignore when I reported the discrimination to her. Similarly, the local administration was unmoved until I approached National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and other offices. As of now, not even a single counsellor has approached me. Though I am trying to come cope with the incident, what about other victims,” she said.