WE, THE UNDERSIGNED , WOULD LIKE TO BRING YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING INCIDENT, AND THE NEED FOR AN URGENT INTERVENTION:

A 20-year-old Dalit woman from Ravidas community was found dead in a water pool on 26th December 2021 at Shahpur chowk under Tisiauta Police station of Vaishali district, around 80 kilometers north of Patna, Bihar.  The woman was picked up at gunpoint from her native place on December 20th by the upper-caste strongmen of her village. Her mother tried to save her but was threatened by the accused and warned to stay silent. The victim’s mother went to the Panchayat who advised her to file an FIR. The heinous incident has sparked social media outrage and people are demanding justice for the Vaishali girl. [1] [2]

The victim’s  father works as a labourer in Punjab. Her mother is also a labourer. They live just half a kilometer away from the place where her dead body was recovered. The couple have four children—three daughters and a son.[2]

An FIR registered in this regard with the thumb impression of victim's mother states that the deceased victim had gone to relieve herself in a nearby field when she was forcibly taken away by four men named Anurag Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Manoj Chaudhary and Anshu Kumar and 5-6 other unknown persons. “As the girl started crying, we rushed to her rescue but we were driven away. They brandished a pistol and used abusive language,” the FIR reads. When victim's mother went to the house of Manoj Chaudhary along with some other persons, she was told that her girl would be returned in two days, the FIR states. However, the victim was found dead in a canal on December 26th and was allegedly gang-raped by the upper-caste men for five consecutive days and murdered. .[2] 

Bijrauli village comes under Patepur Assembly constituency, district Vaishali in Bihar.  Patepur Assembly constituency is reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Castes. However, the MLA Raushan, despite being from the same village, did not visit the place till three days after the incident.

The state government of Bihar has failed to take immediate action against the culprits and its negligent attitudes have led to this incident in Vaishali where a Dalit girl was brutally gang raped and murdered by the upper-caste men in her village.

We are utterly disheartened at the state government’s failure to prevent the happening of such heinous crimes and we stand in solidarity with the victim’s family. We demand that the state government takes the following measures-

-Provide police protection to the victim’s family
-Immediate arrest of the accused 
-Launch a broad independent investigation into the matter
-Conduct fast and fair trial in the case
-Provide adequate compensation to the victim’s family
-Appoint a credible Public prosecutor for prosecuting the case, in accordance with the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
We urge the state government to do everything in its power to send a strong message that sexual violence will not be tolerated irrespective of which community the victim or the survivor belongs to. 

[1] https://twitter.com/Shinde_Voice/status/1475476602846781443?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1476084091007107075%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apnlive.com%2Fbihar-dalit-woman-gang-rape%2F

[2]https://twocircles.net/2021dec29/444563.html