Our Correspondent
Fatehabad, June 12

Several Dalit and women organisations have condemned the alleged stripping of a Dalit woman and her teenaged daughter at Baijalpur village in this district and taken exception to the role of the police in the cases. They have threatened to launch an agitation of the culprits were not brought to book. They allege that the police has been trying to hush up the case and the victims have been forced to enter into a compromise with the accused.

On the other hand the police has maintained that the matter has been blown out of proportion and a simple case of beating up of a woman and her daughter has been given the colour of molestation and stripping.

The incident allegedly occurred at Baijalpur village of this district on June 7. When a Dalit woman and her 17-year-old daughter were allegedly beaten up and stripped by some villagers. According to reports, five villagers Sube Singh, Ram Niwas, Ramesh Kumar, Subhash and Shailender allegedly reached the house of the woman and started beating up her daughter. On hearing her cries, the woman tried to free her daughter but was also beaten up and stripped along with her daughter in front of villagers. However, nobody came to their rescue. The beaters also allegedly told them to leave the village forthwith.

The Dalit organisations said the victims brought the matter to the notice of the police the same evening but instead of taking action against the accused the police tried to hush up the case and allegedly forced the victims to enter into a compromise.

Meanwhile, Mr Hanif Qureshi, SP, denied that such an incident had ever happened and said the matter had been blown out of proportion. He said the woman and her daughter had lodged a complaint with the police on June 7 regarding beating up and misbehaviour by some villagers and there was no mention of stripping. Mr Qureshi said he had ordered Mr Ashok Sheoran, DSP, to probe the matter.

However, the Dalit and women organisations refused to buy the police story. The state president of the Nayak Mahasabha, Mr Godhu Ram, who came here from Hisar yesterday condemned the role of the police in the case. He said when he went to the village to meet the victims he was told that the police had taken them to the nearby Bhuna police station. At the police station he was not allowed to meet them.

Meanwhile, the Ambedkar Sabha president, Mr Shammi Ratti, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Employees Mahila Wing president, Mrs Vidhya Ratti and the Mahila Yon Utpidan Virodhi Manch president, Mrs Darshan Kaur have condemned the incident and the role of the police in the case.