10 Things To Know About The Tikri Border Gangrape Case

Tikri Gangrape Case: The police filed an FIR against six persons associated with the farmers protest in Delhi for the alleged gangrape of a 25-year-old woman activist at Tikri Border.

The survivor women died of COVID-19 on April 30 while going through treatment in a private hospital. The accused persons named Anil Malik Ankush Sangwan, Jagdish Brar and Anup Singh and two unidentified women had all set up a tent at Tikri Border under the banner Kisan Social Army. They have been charged with sections 365, 376-D,506, 342 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.

Here's what we know of the case so far about the Tikri Gangrape Case:

• The deceased activist had been an artist and designer and had attended the public meeting organised by farmers in Hooghly, West Bengal on April 1. According to the FIR, the accused was present at the meeting.
• The woman had then come to Delhi to support the farmers' cause and joined the protest. During her train journey to Punjab on April 11, the accused named Anil Malik allegedly forced himself upon her, according to reports.
• The survivor was also allegedly forced to live in the same tent with Anil Malik when she reached Tikri Border on April 12. According to the FIR, the survivor shared with her father that the accused had been trying to blackmail and pressurise her. She was then later shifted to another tent with women protesters after her family brought the issue to the farmer leaders' notice. Her statement was video-recorded, stated the FIR.
• On April 21, the woman was admitted to a private hospital as she had developed a fever. She was later diagnosed with COVID-19. The survivor told her father that she had been sexually assaulted on the train and in the tent by the accused. She asked for the accused to be punished but didn't want the farmers' movement to be disrupted because of it.
• The survivor succumbed to COVID-19 on April 30. Reportedly there were explanations given by the farmer leaders as to why the FIR was filed so late. The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders at the Tikri Border said that they probed the matter after knowing about the incident but they did no explain the reason why waited to inform the police. The woman's accusation was authenticated four days before the FIR was filed.
• Joginder Singh Ugrahan, the president of BKU Ekta Ugrahan, said the organisation conducted a preliminary inquiry of the claim and had found the woman's claim to be true. He said that the FIR was filed then and the accused was removed from the protest site.
• The SKM also called for the boycott of all the accused persons in the case on Sunday and said that they stand with the survivor's family. They stated that they are willing to fight a legal battle against the accused.
• Harinder Kaur Bindu, the woman wing head of BKU Ekta Ugrahan, claimed that most leaders of SKM knew about the incident before. She said, “We are surprised why they kept silent and did not allow us to meet her father, who was under immense pressure."
• The SKM said that the Kisan Social Army, which has now been ousted from the movement, was not an authorised representative of the movement.
• Jasbir Kaur Natt, leader of Punjab Kisan Union, said that matter is of serious concern. He said, "Here at the protest, there is no difference between males and females and women in large numbers are participating. The farmers will investigate and ensure no such thing is allowed to happen again."