By IANS
Jaipur : Residents of Boraj village in Rajasthan are angry that all men were, on the order of the village council, strip-searched to find and punish a rapist-killer. All in vain, it now appears. For, the police have arrested a relative of the village head for the crime.
“It seems that our chief had the knowledge of this murder, and he still asked every male to strip. He fooled us,” a villager said, declining to be named.
The residents of Boraj in Ajmer district, 140 km from here, are now set to raise the issue at the village council meeting to be held Thursday.
“If we fail to get a favourable response from the village council, we will file a police complaint,” another villager said.
The council is also expected to announce punishment for Mahendra, a relative of village head Tara Singh Rawat, who was arrested Sunday on charges of raping and murdering Geeta Rawat, 35. Geeta’s body was found in a nearby hilly area Sep 8.
The council is likely to impose a fine between Rs.50,000-Rs.100,000 and stop supply of water or food to the culprit, a villager indicated.
The police suspected that Gita, wife of Sohan Rawat, was raped before being murdered. Her disfigured body was found on a hillock. After initial investigation, the police said that the victim must have struggled a lot and was known to the culprit.
Taking a leaf out of police investigation, the village executive asked all men in the village to strip one by one to examine their bodies for any bruise marks. All elected members of the village panchayat (executive) also got themselves examined.
As many as 1,500 males in the age group of 10-60 years were asked to strip Sep 10. The exercise started early in the morning and continued till late in the evening.