3 minor Dalit sisters attacked with acid in Gonda district

Gonda: Three minor Dalit sisters in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district were allegedly attacked with acid on Tuesday. The incident happened while the young sisters were asleep at home in the early hours.

The sisters, aged 8, 12 and 17 years were immediately rushed to a district hospital for their treatment. According to reports, while two sisters have received minor burn injuries, one of them has sustained severe injuries on her face.

Gonda SP Sailesh Kumar Pandey said that they received the information that the three girls sleeping in the house were attacked with some chemical and they are trying to identify the chemical. ''We have sent the girls to a government hospital and they are in a better condition. The hospital has made all arrangements for their treatment. The eldest girl has received the maximum burn injuries,'' he mentioned. SP Pandey also added that the family members of the girls and they do not have suspicion on anyone so far.

So far, no arrests have been made in connection to the incident.

The family members told police that the three sisters came running downstairs crying in pain at 2 am. Their father initially thought the burn injuries were from a gas cylinder, but later got to know it was an acid attack. Recently, the girls' parents fixed the marriage of their eldest daughter who is a high school pass-out and she received the maximum burn injuries out of the three girls. Although the family does not suspect anyone but the police suspect it must be from the same locality.

According to a recent report, the 'Crime in India 2019' a compendium of data on criminal cases registered in the country last year. The report provides a state-wise break-up of such cases. Crime against Dalits is part of this official report. It is not a secret that all criminal acts are not registered by the police for a variety of reasons. It is also well known that when it comes to lodging complaints by Dalits, how difficult it is to file such complaints especially if the perpetrators happen to be people belonging to powerful sections of society and dominant castes.

Despite the flaws inherent in such a report, the data still provide an insight into the various crimes perpetrated against Dalits. It records 45,935 cases of atrocities against Dalits with 11,829 of them reported from Uttar Pradesh. 

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