Movies, TV to be blamed; child marriage solution for rape cases: Khap Panchayat member

Hisar: In a shocking reaction to the recent spate of rape cases in Haryana, khap panchayat members have blamed girls for such incidents. One Khap Panchyat member gave a bizzare solution and suggested that the marriageable age for girls should be reduced to 16 years.

When asked why rapes are occuring at this scale in Haryana, Sube Singh said that movies and television are to be blamed for rapes. "I believe this is happening because our youth are being badly influenced by cinema and television. I think that girls should be married at the age of 16, so that they have their husbands for their sexual needs, and they don't need to go elsewhere. This way rapes will not occur," commented Singh.

The insensitive statement was made after an allegedly raped Dalit girl set herself on fire in Jind district in Haryana on Saturday. All four suspects have been arrested in the case. The 16-year-old was forcibly taken to the house of one of the suspects where the crime occurred, according to the police reports. In a state of shock, the girl went to her house and sprinkled kerosene on herself.

She was rushed to the civil hospital in Jind district, and was later referred to PGIMS at Rohtak in serious condition. The girl breathed her last on Saturday evening in the Rohtak hospital.

Earlier on Saturday, the victim in her statement to the police said that one of her neighbours Pradeep allegedly dragged her into his house while the sister-in-law of the accused kept guard standing on the terrace of the house so that nobody could come inside. Pradeep and another youth Naveen raped the teenager.

This is the ninth rape case to come to light in Haryana in the past 28 days and a majority of these rapes took place in Jind district alone. Haryana government has formed a three-member committee to look into these incidents.