Gaya Case: "Family Killed The Girl," Says The Police Over Gruesome Murder Of 16-Yr-Old

On January 10, in Bihar’s Gaya, protestors took to the street over the alleged failure of authority to take immediate action in the beheading and mutilation of a 16-year-old girl. On the other hand, hundreds of weavers from the Gaya Weavers’ Association upheld an indefinite strike to protest against recent development in the ongoing investigation of the horrendous murder of a 16-year-old girl. The weavers in the locality are demanding to acquit the parents from the jail, who according them are innocent. The cops have arrested the girl’s father and his friend.

“Family falsely accused”

When The Logical Indian contacted the sub-inspector of the concerned police station, Manoj Kumar, he said, ” We have arrested the father and his friend, as they both have killed the girl”. He had previously told The Logical Indian that according to a source, the girl who left her house on December 28, 2018, had returned on December 31, 2018.

Kumar said that during the investigation, the girl’s sister revealed that the girl returned on December 31, 2018 night. “Her sister said that the girl returned at night, but she was nowhere to be seen on the very next day. When the sister asked about the girl to her mother the next day, she said that her sister is with the uncle”. The cops stated that this is a matter of honour killing. Hindustan Times reported that a Gaya senior superintendent of police Rajiv Kumar Mishra said that the girl had eloped with someone from her home in Patwa panchayat on December 28, 2018, but returned after three days.

When contacted with the family member, Moti Lal Prasad (name changed), said that the cops without any evidence have arrested the father. He alleged that they were trying to turn around the case against the family, as the family does not have any power. He said, “Family is very poor and it is shame that the cops are trying to falsely accuse the family”. On January 10, 2019, the Mishra announced that they have found the killer and it was her father and his friend. Soon after the announcement, weavers of the region who are called Patwas, took to the streets demanding for a CBI probe. “Gaya police is not doing justice. The victim’s parents were picked up in the wee hours and tortured to confess killing their own daughter. We were not allowed to meet them,” Gopal Patwa, president, Gaya Weavers Association, told Hindustan Times.

What has happened?

In Bihar’s Gaya district scores of people took on to the street to protest against the alleged kidnapping and murder of a 16-year-old girl. The victim’s family claim that the police did not take timely action in the case which could have averted the incident.

On December 28, the minor girl went missing. The family alleged that the girl was kidnapped when she had gone out in the evening. According to the local media reports, on January 6, the girl’s body was found in bushes near Baksaria Tola, which is close to the Buniyadganj Police Station, Gaya. The report says that her body was found beheaded and in a mutilated condition. The family of the victim has further alleged that the girl had several injury marks on her body and acid was also thrown at her. Following the incident, protests started against this heinous act, many marched together near to Manpur Durgastand, Gaya on January 9.

What family alleged

While speaking to The Logical Indian, Moti Lal Prasad said that the girl went out on December 28, and never returned. “Our girl after receiving pocket money of Rs 5 from her father, went out to buy something for her at around 6 pm on Friday. Since then, she never returned”, he said. Adding to that, the girl’s relative said, “We waited for two days to check on other relatives and friends. It is quite a trend here that girls elope with their male friends to get married. But eventually, they (eloped couples) return within two to three days, we did not negate that possibility as well. But when we did not get any information about her, we then approached the police.”

The family alleges that when they went to the Buniyadganj police station to file a missing report. The cops did not take the complaint seriously and believed it to be a case of elopement. According to the relative, the police asked the family to come later to file the complaints. “We went to the station, but the cops did not register the missing report. The main Daroga (inspector) of the police station asked us to write an application. However, the police did take our application, but no FIR was registered then.”

He further said, “Ham to unpadh hai, hame police ka kaam ni pata, hame jo bola humne wo kiya (We are illiterate, we do not know the way police works. We did what the cops asked us to do),” lamented Moti Lal while talking to us.

FIR lodged after six days

The family later approached the local media to seek their help. Following which, the local media reached out to the police to inquire about the matter. “When the media inquired about the FIR copy and other details of the case, the inspector then called us to the police station to file an FIR.” On January 4, an FIR was registered.

Lal also added that when they later approached the police to check up on the case, they were told that the investigation is going on. “After few days, we were told that her body has been recovered from the bushes,” Lal said.

What does the police say

The Logical Indian also spoke to Sub Inspector Manoj Kumar who said the investigations are still going on in the case and that they were not leaving any possible angle to inquire the case. He added, “Seven people were called to the police station last night for inquiry, and more are likely to come.”

On asking about the reason behind the death, he said that body was sent for a postmortem on January 6, and only after the autopsy report is out, they can say anything. The police claimed that after the FIR was lodged, they called the victim’s family multiple times to record their statement, but the family kept on making excuses to escape the statement. However, the family have denied the police claims.

Also Read: Bihar: 16-Yr-Old-Girl Found Beheaded & Mutilated; FIR Lodged 6 Days After She Went Missing