Congress MLA Basavaraj Shivannavar's visit to the survivor sparked controversy, with accusations of him violating the rules of the rehabilitation centre.
Hangal moral policing and gang rape case. (iStock)
In the aftermath of the disturbing incident involving moral policing and alleged gang rape in Hangal town, Haveri district, Karnataka, the survivor has demanded severe punishment for the perpetrators.
The survivor’s plea for justice has been accompanied by troubling developments, including the arrest of individuals who are apparently not directly linked to the crime, and concerns about her safety.
The case has gained attention as Congress MLA Basavaraj Shivannavar’s visit to the survivor sparked controversy, with accusations of him violating rules surrounding rehabilitation centre visits.
The political discourse further intensified as the Opposition BJP called for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to handle the case, while Chief Minister Siddaramaiah assured the public that the government would not tolerate any lawlessness and promised action according to the law.
Meanwhile, the police are yet to arrest one more accused connected to the case. The police had also made two more arrests connected to the case on Sunday; however they are in process of ascertaining the role of these two in the gang rape incident.
Nearly a week after the moral policing and gang rape incident occurred in Hangal town, the survivor broke her silence, demanding stringent action against the rapists.
In a development that raised eyebrows, after Congress MLA Shivannavar met the survivor, the police shifted her to her hometown of Sirsi on Sunday.
The woman told reporters on Sunday evening, “The rapists should be punished severely. They not only physically assaulted me but also sexually assaulted me. Two persons arrested in this case are not related to this case. The police have arrested someone else.”
“The police showed me photos of the two people. Those two are not the ones who sexually assaulted me. Out of the six arrested, two of them were not involved in the case. These are not the same people that were in the video,” she stated.
“Stating that they have to verify the place, the police dropped me home without informing my family members. Despite the threat to our lives, no police officials have been deployed here,” she added, expressing concerns for her safety.
It may be recalled that a case of moral policing was reported at the Hangal Police Station on 10 January though the incident occurred on 8 January.
It came to light after an employee of the Idigas Lodge filed a complaint against three people for barging into the lodge and attacking an inter-faith couple.
Based on the complaint, the police arrested two persons and produced the survivors before the Court of Judicial Magistrate of First Class in Hangal on 11 January.
While giving her statement before the judge, the survivor alleged that she was abducted and gang raped by seven people. Based on the survivors’ statements, the police had registered gang rape charges under Section 376 (D) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Aftab Chandanakatti (24), Madarasaba Mandakki (23), and Samivulla Lalanavar (30) are the accused who have been arrested in this case. Another accused, Mohammed Saif Savikeri, met with an accident on 9 January. He sustained serious injuries and is being treated at Haveri District Hospital.
Meanwhile, the police arrested two more accused and clarified that the two people they arrested on Saturday, 13 January, had no role in gang rape incident.
On Saturday, the Haveri Town Police had arrested two people identified as Imran Bashir Jakkinkatti and Rehan Mohammed Hussain Walikar, residents of the Akkialur village in the Hangal taluk. The police had claimed their involvement in the gang rape case.
However, after the survivor stated that these two were not connected to the gang rape case, the police had arrested another two accused — Sadiq Agasimani (29), a vendor at a local market, and Shohaib (19), who works at a hotel — connected to the case, on Sunday. Their roles are being verified.
Additional SP C Gopal told South First, “The total number of accused is seven. With the arrest of two more accused, including one person who is being treated at a hospital as he had met with a road accident, we have arrested six so far.”
“The two accused persons arrested on Saturday — Imran Bashir Jakkinkatti and Rehan Mohammed Hussain Walikar — are not involved in the gang rape case directly. But they were involved in the moral policing incident, where they assaulted and abused the victims,” he added.
He further said, “The two recently arrested persons on Sunday, Sadiq Agasimani and Shohaib’s roles in the moral policing and gang rape incidents are being verified and probed.”
“Some of the arrested accused persons have also been charged for abetment of the gang rape and the moral policing incident, like granting shelter to the accused and helping them escape from the police, etc,” the Additional SP said.
The Haveri Town Police had also taken up a suo moto case based on another video clip from the past involving the two prime accused — Aftab Chandanakatti and Madarasaba Mandakki — which had gone viral in the district soon after the case was registered and the accused persons were arrested in the recent case.
While the Deputy Director of the Women and Child Welfare Department alleged that Congress MLA Shivannavar’s meeting with the victim broke the rules of the Women Rehabilitation Centre, the Haveri Police claimed that the MLA met the victim as per her wishes.
Deputy Director Srinivas Aladarti had levelled allegations against the Congress MLA and the Circle Police Inspector for paying a visit to the gang rape survivor at 11 pm on Saturday night, which was against the rules as visiting hours are between 6 am and 6 pm.
“If at all there is an emergency meeting needed with any of the inmates, then it should only be the investigating officer accompanied by a woman police constable,” Aladarti clarified.
Meanwhile, the police claimed that there has been no violation of any laws by the Byadagi constituency Congress MLA paying a visit to the survivor at the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre.
“The MLA met the victim in the presence of Circle Police Inspector of Haveri Town Police Station,” a senior police official from the Haveri district police told South First.
Additional SP Gopal told South First, “If the survivor wishes to meet a lawmaker at any time she wants to, it can be facilitated and, as the MLA, who is the people’s representative, is visiting the survivor, Circle Police Inspector Motilal Pawar had to be there for security as it was his jurisdiction.”
It may be noted that the survivor was shifted to Sirsi after the Congress MLA’s visit. The Opposition BJP had strongly criticised this as the party’s women delegation was scheduled to meet the survivor at the centre on Sunday.
Assuring action against the gang rape accused, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserted, “The government will not allow anyone to take law into their hands. There is no question of covering up the gang rape case.”
On a one-day visit to Haveri to take part in a religious event, Siddaramaiah told reporters, on Monday, “All the accused have been arrested in the gang rape case and the probe is underway. No one is allowed to take the law into their hands, irrespective of their affiliation to any religion or political party. We will take action as per the law.”
When asked why the chief minister or the Congress-led government had not uttered a word about this incident till date, he retorted, “Can’t we take action, without talking?”
“I am reiterating from the beginning and even now that, pertaining to this case, if anyone has taken law into their hands, we will make an attempt to punish them as per the law,” Siddaramaiah added, “there is no question of sparing anyone in this case.”
When asked about compensation to the survivor, Siddaramaiah said, “I have received the application today. We will review the application and appropriate action will be taken.”
On BJP’s demand to hand over the case to the SIT, the Chief Minister said, “The people in the SIT are also the police. Now, the investigation is also done by the police. What is meant by SIT? It means Special Investigation Team. The investigation is going on and a decision will be taken after the preliminary report is received. We will not do it because of Bommai’s (former Chief Minister of Karnataka) statement.”
“There is no question of covering up the case. Action will be taken against the wrongdoers,” the Chief Minister assured.
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