Rape incident sparks casteist violence in Mathura village

According to police sources, Valmiki families have deserted the Parkham village of Chaumuhan Panchayat area of Farah Tehsil, where a 12-year-old girl was raped and later murdered.

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Rape
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At a time when the Agra region is experiencing a surge in incidents of rape with young girls and women alike, the rape of an upper caste girl by Valmiki youth has created casteist tension in the Farah Tehsil of Mathura district in Agra division.

According to police sources, Valmiki families have deserted the Parkham village of Chaumuhan Panchayat area of Farah Tehsil, where a 12-year-old girl was raped and later murdered by two Valmiki youth, when she was out in the fields taking care of her cattle. The incident resulted in the lynching of the two accused youth and an attack on the Valmiki community houses in the village by upper caste members, which prompted the desertion of the village by the Valmiki families.

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According to Mathura SSP Rakesh Singh, the incident took place when the police arrested two youth from the Parkham village who were accused of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl from the village. They were being interrogated at the village police checkpost, when the villagers attacked the police party, snatched the two youth Lalua and Sonu and lynched them, killing Lalua in the process while Sonu is in critical condition.

Following the incident, senior police officials reached the spot and tried to control the rage of the villagers who were trying to block the train route. Inspector General Agra Zone DC Mishra and Deputy Inspector General Agra range Laxmi Singh reached the village soon after the incident and suspended the SHO Farah, Sub-Inspector in-charge of the village checkpost and two constables, while the Circle Officer Farah was transferred with immediate effect.

However, the violence continued and the villagers attacked the houses belonging to the Valmiki community, trying to set them on fire, which was averted by the prompt action taken by the police. But in light of the incident and fearing retaliation due to the anger towards the community in the village, upper castes, all Valmiki males have left the village. A local villager informed that this was the third such incident in recent times in this village and the police inaction had already enraged the villagers in the past two incidents, resulting in the lynching of the rape accused in this case.

SSP Mathura Rakesh Singh said that a criminal case has been registered in this incident and the family of the deceased girl, whose body was found badly brutalised in a ditch near the road, has been promised ex-gratia of Rs. 10 lakhs from UP Rani Laxmi Bai Mahila Samman Kosh.