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| India-Pakistan |
| Indian police arrest second man over girl's rape |
| 2013-04-23 |
| [Al Ahram] Indian police arrested a second man over the kidnap and rape of a five-year-old girl, as officers on Monday faced further protests and a hail of accusations that they botched their handling of the case. You have to wonder what kind of a man could rape and torture a five-year-old girl, much less do it in company with a partner. After a weekend of demonstrations in the capital, crowds again vented their anger over levels of sexual violence in New Delhi, which first erupted in December after the savage gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus. Doctors, meanwhile, said the five-year-old victim of the latest attack was in a stable condition after being left for dead and was able to talk to her parents. Police said they had arrested a second man late Sunday over the attack, which began on April 15 when the youngster was allegedly abducted from her home before being raped and mutilated. Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar conceded "there were shortfalls" in the police reaction and that "they had not responded as they should have", but rejected protesters' calls for him to quit, saying it would serve no purpose. "If my resigning will prevent such depraved action of the society then I am prepared to resign 1,000 times, but that is not going to address the problem," he told a packed news conference. "The problem is one of mental depravity," he said, adding rapes were "opportunistic crimes", with 97 percent carried out by people known to the victim, such as relatives and neighbours. He's right about that, but he's the guy responsible for the police reaction, which I understand was breathtakingly bad. The two accused are garment worker Manoj Kumar, 22, a tenant in the girl's house who was arrested last Friday, and his friend Pradeep Kumar, taken into custody at his uncle's home in eastern Bihar state. Commissioner Kumar denied allegations that police were slow to register the disappearance of the child by the parents, who live in a working-class neighbourhood. The parents' complaint "was lodged on the same day it was reported. And let us assume -- even if it was registered within five minutes -- the rape had already been committed," Kumar said. When on the same day? Within five minutes? Or sometime before midnight? He added that police were trying to identify two officers who allegedly offered the parents 2,000 rupees (around $35) to keep quiet about the case and told them they should be grateful their daughter was still alive. Both "policemen" (I use the term reluctantly) should be tried as accessories. He also said the chief investigating officer and a senior colleague who was seen on camera slapping a protester had been suspended. "Aw, chief! How long do I hafta stay out?" "I don't want to see you back here before tomorrow morning, Officer Kumar!" The latest developments came as protesters massed outside the hospital where the victim is being treated and at police headquarters to voice their fury at the force's conduct. "I want justice for this little girl. If they had acted in time the tragic incident could have been averted," said student Amod Kumar, 25. "They should have taken the missing complaint seriously and acted immediately. The parents were turned away only because they are poor and helpless." India's noisy and often dysfunctional parliament was repeatedly adjourned amid protests by opposition lawmakers demanding better security for women. Commissioner Kumar rejected protesters' changes there had been no improvements in safety for women in Delhi -- known as the "rape capital" of India -- since the December case. Do you get the impression everybody in town is named Kumar? "Lots have changed," he insisted, citing a 159 percent rise in reported rape cases and a 600 percent increase in molestation cases. "This shows the (police) tendency earlier to dissuade women from registering their cases has changed dramatically," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |