On the evening of 13 January 2017, 13-year-old Shivdevi and her younger sister were in their landlord’s house, watching TV. Their parents were out working.
At 9 PM on 13 January, when the mother returned, Shivdevi was nowhere to be seen. She searched for her daughter everywhere in the neighbourhood but to no avail.
Shivdevi was the eldest daughter, and she has four siblings. The father, Sant Ram, 42, is a labourer and the mother, Rani Devi, 40, is a dishwasher. Due to her family’s financial troubles, Shivdevi was supporting her family with the money she got from rag picking. The family lived in a rented house in Golulpuri, Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh.
The next morning, some people found a plastic bag drenched in blood near Galla Mandi, not far from Shivdevi’s house. 13-year-old Shivdevi’s dead body was found to have been forcibly packed into the bag. The body was found with clothes torn, body mutilated, and severe injuries to her genitals.
Local officers and policemen took the body for postmortem hastily and forced her father, Sant Ram, to bury his daughter.
Nearly two weeks later, no action has been taken by the police. Even the postmortem report has not been given to Shivdevi’s family.
This careless attitude of the police officials has left the family with no hope. Local self-help groups and NGOs have come forward to help the family in getting Justice. Poetry readings and awareness programmes were held under the banner of Dakhal Baal Sanskritik Manch ‘Baal Awaz’ (Voice Of The Children).
When The Logical Indian contacted Sant Ram, he was distraught. He spoke between sobs and lamented that the police had not done anything to investigate the case. He said that there were zero updates, and the family felt utterly helpless. The Logical Indian also tried contacting the SP of Chitrakoot, but we were unable to reach him yesterday. At the time of going to press, his phone finally rang, but he did not pick up. There was no response from the Chitrakoot police station either.
Shivdevi’s family is still waiting for justice.
