NEW DELHI, Sept 12: A group of Muslim men allegedly walked into a state-run school in Jharkhand’s Ranchi brandishing weapons and asking girls to accept them as friends.
The goons also threatened to kidnap the girls if they didn’t follow their diktat.
As some teachers and students stood up to them, they, too, were threatened and beaten up.
According to the girls, the students of Class 9, tribal and other Hindu girls have been getting such threats continuously for a week now. The police have registered an FIR following a written complaint by the girls and the management of the school. A 5-member special investigation team (SIT) has been formed to investigate the matter. However, no arrests have been made in the case so far.
“It is useless to try to give a communal colour to the matter. The people here are intelligent. The police will not touch the innocent but the guilty will not be spared either,” senior police officer Naushad Alam said.
The BJP, which is in opposition in the state, has attacked the Hemant Soren government over the issue, claiming that incidents of love jihad and hooliganism are continuing unabated in the state. “Some frustrated Muslim men are targeting Hindu daughters and the government is doing nothing to stop this,” the BJP said.
Hemant Soren, who is struggling to keep his ministers and MLAs from defecting, has been grappling with rising cases of violence against girls from the Hindu and tribal communities. He is also fighting allegations of corruption in an illegal mining scam that laid bare rampant corruption in the state.
Recently, a girl was set on fire in Dumka allegedly by her stalker for refusing his advances. She later died of her injuries at a hospital. Days later, a tribal girl was found hanging from a tree, also in Dumka, after she was allegedly raped.
(Manas Dasgupta)
