Hyderabad: After the Disha rape accused were killed in an alleged encounter by the Telangana police, parents and family members of other victims who were also raped during the same week are demanding “similar justice”.
“Why is there a difference in treating cases and the way politicians res-ponded?” asked a family member of a rape victim. The family members have been holding protests demanding justice.
The villagers of Hajipur in Bhongir, where one Srinivas Reddy raped and killed three minor girls, are also demanding ‘Disha-type’ justice. The victims’ families alleged that caste discrimination was being shown by the government, politicians, and celebrities, when compared with case of Disha, all other victims are from lower castes.
“My wife was brutally gang-raped and killed. Her body was cut into pieces. This incident took place four days prior to the Disha incident. My two kids have become orphans now,” said the husband of the Asifabad gang-rape victim.
He said, “why is nobody bothered about us? Is it because we are poor or because we belong to the lower caste or both?”
He demanded a similar response, saying, “we want similar justice like in Disha’s case. If not an encounter, at least a fast track court needs to be set up and culprits must be severely punished, as soon as possible. We don’t understand why the government is giving preferential treatment only to a few victims? If this continues, we have to take law into our own hands and take revenge directly,” the husband added.
In another incident, a teenager was raped and killed in Warangal, on November 28, her birthday, the same day as the Disha rape occurred.
The mother of the victim said “Everybody is equal, but still only Disha’s case was given special treatment and the case was solved and justice was served. What have we done? Why is nothing moving forward in the case of our daughter?.”
Another mother, who has lost her daughter four years ago, in the hands of offenders in the city, asked, “In the case of Disha, Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao and K.T. Rama Rao assured her family that they would be there for them. But what about us? Are we not citizens of Telangana? We are also voters. Why have they not consoled and assured us, when our daughter was burnt alive in a petrol attack in the heart of Hyderabad in broad daylight?”
Stating that her daughter was the sole breadwinner the mother said, “we are running from court complexes to police stations waiting for justice. There is no proper investigation. We have to wait for years to get justice.”
