17 months, 20 surgeries: Sikar gang rape victim still awaits justice

“It has been 17 months; will our lives be spent only in hospitals? Will my sister be ever cured?” rues the sister of the 12-year-old gang rape survivor, who has already undergone 20 surgeries.

Worse, neither has the trial begun nor proper action been taken by the Sikar police.

The ordeal of Sikar gang rape survivor is just getting worse. The 12-year-old survivor underwent her 20th surgery on Friday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, and according to her sister, this will definitely not be the last one.

On August 20, 2012, the girl, then 11-years-old, was gang-raped allegedly by six men. 17 operations were performed on her in Jaipur before she was shifted to Delhi.

“Before the operation, the AIIMS doctors had told us that it would be the last one. But they are now saying that another surgery would take place. They are also not revealing when it will happen,” says her sister over the phone from Delhi.

She asks, “It has been 17 months; will our lives be spent only in hospitals? Will my sister be ever cured?”

Ironically, neither the trial of the case has begun nor proper action has been taken by the Sikar police.

While the victim claims there were six rapists, the police have slapped charges only against two. And other four were granted bail at the police station itself.

That’s not all. The trial against the two accused is yet to begin as the police argues that they cannot proceed until the identification parade is done.

Social activist Naseema Khatoon, who is fighting the case for the victim, remarks, “The case symbolises the apathy of Indian system. Be it police or medical or civil society -- nobody is doing justice with her.”

“It seems rapes should only happen in metro cities in order to provide justice to the victim,” Naseema adds in frustration.

While the AIIMS doctors refused to react on the case, the Sikar police maintained their stand -- that they cannot proceed until the victim recovers and the identification parade is completed.

 “We are waiting for her recovery so that we could get her to Sikar for identification,” investigative officer Seema Hingonia says.

Image: A schoolgirl holds a placard during an anti-rape protest demonstration in Jammu

Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters