MOGA/CHANDIGARH, May 2 : Three days after a teenage girl was molested and pushed to her death from a moving bus in Punjab’s Moga district, her relatives have refused to perform her final rites till the time the proprietors of the company that owned the vehicle are booked.
Her father sought security for the family apprehending threat to their lives and claimed they were under political pressure to “hush up” the matter and go for a compromise.
“We are not going to cremate our daughter whose body has been kept in a mortuary until and unless justice is done to us by initiating criminal case against the owner of the bus,” victim’s father Sukhdev Singh said.
He also sought a written assurance from the authorities that no harm would be brought to the family.
“We, including my son, should be given security cover because we are feeling threatened. A written assurance should be given undertaking responsibility in the event of any harm to any of our family members,” he told journalists.
He also stuck to his demand for registration of a case against Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and cancellation of road permits of Orbit Aviation, which owned the bus from which the deceased and her mother were thrown out after being molested, before the family performed her last rites.
The family had yesterday rejected the Government’s offer of a compensation of Rs 20 lakh, a Government job for her mother, her free treatment and holding trial of the case in a fast track court.
AAP activists took out a march to protest against the incident again today and burnt effigies of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal.
AAP leader Jasraj Jassi, who contested the last Lok Sabha elections from Bathinda against Sukhbir’s wife and now Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, led the protest march that terminated at Moga Civil Hospital where the mother of the deceased is undergoing treatment. They then sat on a dharna.
Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes P L Punia visited the girl’s mother at the hospital to inquire about her condition and demanded cancellation of the permits of Orbit Aviation owned by the Badals.
He said a case should also be registered against the owners of the company. “I don’t say a murder case should be registered against them, but slapping a case of negligence is definitely in order,” Punia said.
Sukhdev Singh told Punia about the alleged pressure being brought on the family to reach a compromise and their decision to not cremate the girl before the owners of the bus have been booked and road permits of their vehicles cancelled.
Sukhdev also alleged the owners of the bus had violated rules by having tinted glass and curtains on the windows of the vehicle.
In the midst of protests against the incident that sparked outrage, Punjab minister Surjit Singh Rakhra triggered a controversy when he said what happened was “God’s will”.
“Nobody can stop accidents. Whatever happens does so by God’s will. We can always meet with an accident. We will do more for the people….What has happened is unfortunate. You cannot go against nature’s will,” he said.
As his remarks drew criticism, the Minister said he had been misquoted by the media.
Rakhra said he had gone to a private college to inaugurate a girls’ hostel in Patiala yesterday.
“There it was proposed that girl’s colleges be opened in surrounding areas and measures be taken to prevent accidents as girls travel from far off areas. I said that we cannot stop all accidents. They (media) raised question about the Moga incident but I said I do not have any direct knowledge about the incident as I was not there.
“But they (media) presented my view in a twisted manner linking it with Moga incident which is quite unfortunate,” he said.
Punjab Congress chief Pratap Singh Bajwa demanded resignation of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for “lacking courage” to meet the victim’s family to express condolence.
“It is the constitutional duty of the Chief Minister to provide a sense of security to every citizen.
“You have failed to provide that and the horrendous, horrifying and ghastly killing of a young girl belonging to a poor dalit family in broad daylight and that too in the presence of fellow travellers is a shocking example as to how law and order situation has crumbled and the ordinary people are too scared to speak against the goonda elements who have the political patronage,” Bajwa said in a statement.
The Youth Congress has threatened to gherao the offices of Orbit Aviation in Bhatinda on May 3 and stop its buses in Mohali the next day. (Agencies)
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