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Indian village council denies ordering rape of sisters
Now, members of the village council in the Baghpat region of northern India have told Reuters they passed no such order. Family members of the two sisters also told Reuters they are unsure if the ruling was made. And local police deny any such directive was given.
...
But family members said in interviews with Reuters the information that the council made such an order may have just been gossip. "It is all hearsay, we don't know if this actually happened," said Dharam Pal Singh, 55, the women's father and a retired soldier. "We heard it from other villagers."
...
Tyagi said he stood by the petition, which the family filed because of fears for the safety of the sisters, and denied failing to check the facts. However, he said he had never visited the village, nor spoken to any members of the council who supposedly issued the rape order. "We have documentary evidence for nine out of 10 things in the case," he said. "The other things people will not come out with unless there is an independent investigation."Kumari, the elder sister, admitted she didn't know if the council had issued a ruling but said she took the threat seriously because women are often punished in India for things they have not done. "It is very tough life for women," Kumari said in an interview at Tyagi's office in the relative security of the capital. "These things can happen."
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There were many discrepancies in the accounts offered by the families of the sisters and the married woman, members of the village council, the lawyer who drew up the Supreme Court petition, and police officials.But no one said they had any evidence that the council had handed down the rape punishment, as alleged in the court petition. The petition said the council was comprised of upper caste men. The village council is actually more than 80 percent female and headed by a woman who, like the sisters, is from the bottom of the caste hierarchy. "How many times do I have to tell you that there was no meeting?" said Bala Devi, 55, who has run the council for the last five years. "We spend our time discussing mundane things like fixing the roads or water pumps."
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/09/03/uk-india-rape-idUKKCN0R307920150903
...
But family members said in interviews with Reuters the information that the council made such an order may have just been gossip. "It is all hearsay, we don't know if this actually happened," said Dharam Pal Singh, 55, the women's father and a retired soldier. "We heard it from other villagers."
...
Tyagi said he stood by the petition, which the family filed because of fears for the safety of the sisters, and denied failing to check the facts. However, he said he had never visited the village, nor spoken to any members of the council who supposedly issued the rape order. "We have documentary evidence for nine out of 10 things in the case," he said. "The other things people will not come out with unless there is an independent investigation."Kumari, the elder sister, admitted she didn't know if the council had issued a ruling but said she took the threat seriously because women are often punished in India for things they have not done. "It is very tough life for women," Kumari said in an interview at Tyagi's office in the relative security of the capital. "These things can happen."
...
There were many discrepancies in the accounts offered by the families of the sisters and the married woman, members of the village council, the lawyer who drew up the Supreme Court petition, and police officials.But no one said they had any evidence that the council had handed down the rape punishment, as alleged in the court petition. The petition said the council was comprised of upper caste men. The village council is actually more than 80 percent female and headed by a woman who, like the sisters, is from the bottom of the caste hierarchy. "How many times do I have to tell you that there was no meeting?" said Bala Devi, 55, who has run the council for the last five years. "We spend our time discussing mundane things like fixing the roads or water pumps."
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/09/03/uk-india-rape-idUKKCN0R307920150903