In a harrowing episode of sexual violence in the Kannur district of Kerala, a minor girl studying in Class ten has come forward to the local police with her account of how she was raped and sexually abused by 19 men, including her own father, over the last two years, reported Onmanorama. Another accused in the case is a unit secretary of CPI (M)‘s youth wing, Nikhil Mohanann the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI).
The DYFI leader, on Tuesday (4 December) was part of a march demanding justice for the 16-year-old girl. Shockingly, as per reports he was later arrested in the same case.
Kannur police have registered 16 cases against the accused, of whom 11 have been arrested till now. The girl was being abused and raped by her father in a regular manner, and she was too naive and young to understand what was happening to her.
Unbeknownst to the father, the girl was also being exploited by other men, who sometimes raped her at her own home and on other occasions at other premises.
The rampant abuse and predation were revealed after the latest incident in which the girl was gang-raped at a lodge after a man using a fake ID on Facebook lured her to meet him. He had taken her to his car and captured intimate pictures of hers which he then used to blackmail her into accompanying him to the lodge, where multiple men attacked her.
After her ordeal at the lodge, the attackers used recordings of the abuse to blackmail the girl and her brother into paying them money. The brother was unaware of the abuse the girl had been facing for years, and took her to the police to lodge a complaint.
This is the second rape case in the district involving a DYFI member. BJP district president P Sathyaprakash expressed doubt over whether a proper investigation would be conducted since a prime accused was a DYFI leader but warned of an agitation if proper action wasn’t taken.
An Appeal...
Dear Reader,
As you are no doubt aware, Swarajya is a media product that is directly dependent on support from its readers in the form of subscriptions. We do not have the muscle and backing of a large media conglomerate nor are we playing for the large advertisement sweep-stake.
Our business model is you and your subscription. And in challenging times like these, we need your support now more than ever.
We deliver over 10 - 15 high quality articles with expert insights and views. From 7AM in the morning to 10PM late night we operate to ensure you, the reader, get to see what is just right.
Becoming a Patron or a subscriber for as little as Rs 1200/year is the best way you can support our efforts.