Bulandshahr: Police yet to meet acid attack victim, calls those she named ‘decent men’

About none of his officials visiting the victim, Ansari says, it is due to “acute staff crunch”. Policemen work “on priority” basis, he adds.

The family, whose ordeal began when the woman was allegedly gangraped on August 9, says they don’t know whom to turn to now. “Policemen said they got a container from my house which had something like acid in it. I told them it is not ‘something like acid’ but acid, and that I use it in milk sampling. But that doesn’t mean I have poured acid on my wife,” the husband says.

The two got married only two years ago, and have an infant son. Acid is used to test the quality of milk.

The woman’s elderly mother-in-law has been doing the running around with her son at the hospital, frequently fetching medicines from the store outside.

The alleged victim, belonging to the same OBC community as the rape accused, lives in a joint family. All the members work in the fields.

Struggling to speak, the victim says her alleged assaulters first beat her up on August 6 when she objected to their advances. “I was dragged by Surjeet, his son Rajveer and his brother Paramjeet into the fields on August 9 and gangraped,” she says.

The victim and her husband claim they first approached police on August 6, but police booked both the husband and Surjeet under CrPC Section 151 for disturbing peace. When they went again on August 9 after the alleged rape, police reportedly refused to file an FIR. The husband says he finally approached court.

The SSP, however, says the victim never complained of rape at first. When she did, their initial probe showed she was blaming the accused as the two families had a property dispute, he says.

Opening the bag that he now carries with him everywhere, the husband shows copies of complaints made to the Bulandshahr SSP and the Meerut Division Commissioner, as well as the court order. “The commissioner of the Meerut division ordered a medical examination after a month of the incident. Can anyone corroborate rape after a month of the incident?” says the husband.

Back in the village, around 15 km from Bulandshahr city, the victim’s father-in-law breaks down at the mention of the acid attack. While he didn’t see who poured the acid, he was among the first to rush to his daughter-in-law’s help, and poured milk on her body to cool it down.

Showing other containers with acid like the one taken away by police, he says that apart from testing milk, they use the acid to burn the grass outside the house.

The 70-year-old says he regrets ever keeping acid at home.

One of the accused in the acid attack case, Veerpal, lives next door, along with his wife, daughter and mother. His mother, who refuses to give her name, says the men of their house live in Noida. “My son wasn’t even in the village that day.”

SSP Ansari backs her version. “We have seen the signature of the accused at one of the police stations in Noida where they had made a complaint fearing they could be framed in a fake case. It’s all staged,” he says.

There is complete silence at the house of the father-son duo named by the victim in the rape FIR. A woman emerges after persistent knocking and says the family of the victim was jealous of their prosperity. “Can a son and father rape the same woman in front of each other? It’s not possible. My husband is innocent. This is the reason why police never arrested him. The cops, however, have visited the victim’s house thrice since the incident,” says Pallo, the wife of Surjeet. Apart from Rajveer, they have two daughters.

However, none of the villagers supports Pallo’s or police’s claims of a rivalry between the families.

Says Aadesh, “The accused felled some trees owned by the victim’s father-in-law a few months ago and they fought. But they are all friendly, helpful people.”

But SSP Ansari has a theory on why the rape case has been lodged. “We receive too many such complaints these days, which turn out to be fake when investigated. Rape is the biggest weapon nowadays to settle scores.”

The husband says they are trying no such tricks. “I am a simple man. I don’t have rivalry with anyone. I am too poor to run to court and police stations. I just want justice for my wife.”

Inside the burns ward, a staff nurse has come for dressing. As the nurse removes the IV pipe from her hand, the victim keeps still. The tears flow later, when the her 11-month-old son comes in, and refuses to approach her, scared of her burnt face.