The Hindu : New Delhi News : Woman gets a taste of jungle raj in Delhi

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Saturday, Apr 12, 2008
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New Delhi

Woman gets a taste of jungle raj in Delhi

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: A hapless young woman who was allegedly criminally assaulted by her landlord earlier this month was mercilessly beaten up by relatives and neighbours of the accused in Mandawali here on Thursday night even as the police watched the bizarre drama as mute spectators.

The 30-year-old victim, who runs a placement agency from her rented accommodation, had returned home late in the evening and got into an altercation with the family of the accused over withdrawal of the case against Ram Kumar, who is in jail facing charges of criminal assault. His relatives accused her of levelling false charges and trying to blackmail them.

Hearing the commotion, some neighbours and passers-by joined in and began thrashing the woman with slippers. She was also punched and kicked. All this happened in full glare of television cameras and continued even after the police reached the spot. The woman was eventually taken to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in the early hours of Friday and a case was filed against her tormentors.

“The woman called up the police station several times alleging that the family of the accused was pressurising her to withdraw the charges. She had also hurt herself accidentally and was feeling uneasy. She was taken to a hospital by the police, but her statement could not be recorded as she was under the influence of alcohol. When she returned home from the hospital later in the night an altercation broke out,” said a senior police officer.

On Friday afternoon, a team of the Delhi Commission for Women met the victim and expressed anguish over the incident. “It was outrageous of the crowd to have beaten up a helpless woman. No one has the right to take the law into their hands. It was sad that even the police chose to be a mute spectator while the woman was being beaten up. The Commission has taken serious cognisance of the matter and will take it up with the Police Commissioner,” said Commission chairperson Barkha Singh

Case registered

The victim, a resident of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, had been staying at her present address for the past few months. A few days after she set up business here, her landlord Ram Kumar quit his job and joined her placement agency. This past April 5, she got a case registered against Ram Kumar alleging that he had criminally assaulted her. The accused was arrested a day later and sent to judicial custody after a medical examination of the victim confirmed the assault.

However, a close acquaintance of the family of the accused maintained that the two shared an intimate relationship and the allegations were levelled in an attempt to extort money from the accused.

Meanwhile, the police have registered a case against her tormentors and arrested the wife of Ram Kumar.

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