Patna: Students and staff of a Jesuit college in Patna on Monday staged a silent protest against the gang rape and stabbing of a 19-year-old girl.
The twelfth grade student was on May 19 found unconscious and bleeding in a bush at Sisauna, a village in Madhubani district of Bihar, eastern India. Her attackers had allegedly abandoned her, taking her to be dead, sources said.
The girl, who was stabbed 16 times, has survived but is in critical condition, according the latest reports.
Local people had rushed her to hospital.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Indra Prakash said when the woman gained consciousness briefly on May 22, her statement was recorded in the presence of a magistrate.
The victim said when she alighted at Madhubani an auto-driver and his four friends forcibly took her to secluded place where they took turns to rape her.
She was then taken to Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital, 60 km south of Madhubani. However, she had to be taken back to the Madhubani hospital since the doctors at the medical college were on strike.
The incident was reportedly a repeat of the gang-rape of a 22-year-old medical student on December 16, 2012. The Delhi woman, identified as Nirbhaya (the fearless) died two weeks later, triggering nationwide protests.
The government brought in more stringent laws against sexual offenders, but they have failed to stem the tide of violence against women across the country. The incident is the latest in a series of crimes in Bihar that have embarrassed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and triggered allegations that the government was unable to control the rapidly deteriorating law-and-order situation.
Meanwhile, the police recovered an ATM card, a mobile phone and a knife from the spot and registered a case. Sources said a local auto driver, Mohammad Suleman, was arrested after police found the mobile phone was registered in his name. Three other accused are absconding.
Based Suleman’s statement, the police have recovered the vehicle used in the crime.
St. Xavier’s Colleges in the state capital of Patna protested against this heinous crime through a road show and expressed their pain toward the victim through posters.
They also organized a signature campaign to plead the state chief minister, police officials and state human rights commission to take steps to check such heinous crimes. “The colleges expect a speedy action in nabbing the accused and in helping the victim and her family in this time of distress,” said principal Jesuit Father T Nishaant.