Probe rape, violence in Bhatta-Parsul: NCW to CBI

Backing Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's allegations about police atrocities on Greater Noida villagers, the National Commission for Women on Saturday recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation probe "as soon as possible" into the incidents.

"I request a CBI inquiry as soon as possible so that evidence is not destroyed," acting NCW chairperson Yasmeen Abrar told reporters in New Delhi.

Abrar said villagers in Bhatta and Parsaul villages told an NCW fact-finding team about the alleged police atrocities on them.

"Women in these villages were sad and reluctant to talk about anything. But finally in Bhatta, they said how they were molested and their men burnt alive. In Parsaul village, they said how their houses were ransacked and looted," said Abrar.

Seeking lodging of an FIR against the culprits by the Uttar Pradesh Government, she said there have been allegations of tampering of evidence by the state administration.

"I want Uttar Pradesh Government to lodge FIR against the culprits and ensure free and fair investigation," Abrar said.

The NCW had sent a fact-finding team headed by Abrar to Bhatta and Parsaul villages on May 12 to look into allegations of police atrocities on women during and after the clashes between farmers and police there early this month. Abrar alleged that the local administration initially stopped the NCW team from visiting the villages.

Rahul Gandhi, who went on a tour of the villages and sat on a dharna there before being arrested, had made allegations that people were burnt and women raped in Bhatta and Parsaul villages.

The Uttar Pradesh government, however, has dismissed all the charges as baseless and said preliminary forensic reports of ashes collected from the area have ruled out presence of any human remains.