The Indore Development Authority (IDA) has told the family of an 8-year old gang-rape survivor from Mandsaur who were allotted a house and a shop in the city by the previous BJP government, to vacate their home. The officials claimed that no official order was issued by the previous BJP government.
The father told media outlets, while admitting that no official order was issued by the erstwhile BJP government, “When the BJP government was replaced by Congress government several people told me that I would have to go back to Mandsaur as the government has changed. Their words have come true.”
IDA executive engineer NL Mahajan reportedly said, “We don’t have any right to hand over the house to anyone without a formal order. The family was not living in the house either. The house was rented out to get some money and use the same money for them to get a house on rent near the temple where the shop was given to father of the girl,” he added.
State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agarwal said the issue should be dealt with without politicizing it. Higher education minister and legislator from Indore, Jeetu Patwari, also assured that he will look into the matter and ensure that the family doesn’t have to vacate the house.
The perpetrators of the gang-rape, Irfan and Asif were caught by the police and because of the stringent laws introduced by the then Shivraj Chouhan government, were prosecuted within two months and were awarded the death penalty by a Mandsaur court in August last year.
The child was abducted, gang-raped and had her throat cut by the perpetrators last year. She had to struggle for her life for five months in a hospital.