People from different walks of life, including a political leader, former top cop, and professional wrestler, on Tuesday joined the protest to demand justice for the family of the nine-year-old Dalit girl allegedly raped and killed in the national capital.
The Delhi Commission for Women launched an inquiry into the incident and summoned the city police after the girl’s parents alleged that she was raped and her body was forcibly cremated by a crematorium priest who had falsely claimed that she was electrocuted.
The parents of the girl accompanied by hundreds of locals staged a protest for the second day on Tuesday near the site of the incident in Old Nangal area in southwest Delhi, demanding capital punishment for the accused.
Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad joined the protest and demanded justice for the child.
“The case should be investigated in a proper way. It was a lie that the girl died due to electrocution. They cremated her body without the presence of the family. We have heard that the parents of the girl were also pressurised to give a statement accordingly,” Azad said.
“Due to social media, people got to know about the incident and extended their support. I have come here today. The family should get justice and the accused should be punished. Till then, the protest will continue,” he added.
Former Director General of Police, Himachal Pradesh, Prithviraj too joined the protest and said the family of the victim must get timely justice.
“I have come to get justice for a murdered and raped child. Justice should be delivered. It should be delivered very fast and there should be no delay. If it is delayed, then the situation will worsen and people will come out on roads,” he said.
“People have not forgotten the Hathras incident and now this has happened. The message that is going out is that powerful people can do anything,” he said.
Prince Aadvanshi, a wrestler and national heavy weight champion, said he came to the protest site along with other wrestlers to support the family of the girl in their fight.
“I came here on Monday along with 10 wrestlers and went back around 11.30 pm. Today morning, I reached here with 90 wrestlers. We have come to support the family in their fight so that they would get justice. The accused should be hanged for what they have done,” he said.
“Today, 90 wrestlers have come. Tomorrow, the number will rise to 300, and then 1,000 and it will continue to rise till the girl’s family gets justice. We are also managing the distribution of food here which people are getting from their homes,” Aadvanshi said.
The protesters held placards and raised slogans demanding justice.
Police had on Monday said that based on the statement of the victim’s mother, rape charges have been added in the FIR. Four people, including the priest, have been arrested.
The girl lived with her parents in the village in a rented house in front of a crematorium. On Sunday at around 5.30 pm, she went to get cold water from a cooler at the crematorium after informing her mother, her parents said.
Around 6 pm, the crematorium’s priest, Radhey Shyam, and two-three other people, known to the girl’s mother, called her there and showed her daughter’s body claiming that she got electrocuted while getting water from the cooler.
There were burn marks between her left wrist and elbow, and her lips were also blue, a senior police officer had said.
It was alleged the priest and the others dissuaded her mother from making a PCR call, saying police will make a case out of it and during the post-mortem, doctors will steal the girl''s organs, so it was better to cremate her.
The girl was cremated but later the woman with her husband raised a hue and cry that it was done without their consent. A crowd of 200 villagers gathered there and a PCR call was made from the spot.
The PCR call was received at the Delhi Cantt police station around 10.30 PM on Sunday regarding the rape and death of a minor girl, following which a team rushed to the spot.
