The Jharkhand High Court on Monday took suo motu cognizance of the gruesome gang-rape, robbery and thrashing of a Spanish tourist with her husband in Dumka district of Jharkhand.
The division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice S Chandrashekhar has sought a report from the State Chief Secretary, DGP and SP Dumka on the incident. The date of hearing of the case has been fixed for March 7.
“The Court has asked the CS, Home Secretary, DGP and the Dumka SP to submit an action taken report in this regard by Thursday,” said advocate Samavesh Bhanjdeo. The issue was put into the notice of court by senior advocate Ritu Kumar.
The Spanish woman was gang-raped under Hansdiha police station area of Dumka district on March 02 and had beaten her up with her husband and also robbed them. In the case, police have so far arrested three suspects.
The woman had reached Kurumahat located in Hansdiha police station area of Dumka with her husband. The couple had stayed in a tent in Kunji village of Hansdiha police station area of Dumka while going from Pakistan to Bangladesh and then to Nepal via Bengal.
Meanwhile, a large number of travel enthusiasts, bike riders and adventurers have come out in open denouncing the incident and seeking justice for the victim. On one hand social media is flooded with posts seeking justice for the victim, adventurers and riders in Jharkhand are also denouncing the incident seeking the harshest punishment for the perpetrators of crime.
“This is unpardonable. We are deeply embarrassed and apologetic. One cannot even imagine such an incident in a country which believes in the ideology of ‘Átithi Devo Bhawah’ (Guest is God). It’s a huge shame for the nation and the State. We need to sensitise our children so that such incidents do not take place. And for this all stakeholders including parents, schools, Panchayati Raj institutions, NGOs have to work seriously,” said cyclist and travel enthusiast Ganesh Reddy, who works in the development sector in many States of the country.
International Bicycle Tourer from Ranchi Kanishka Poddar said, “I have no words for what happened with the Spanish Tourist. It was disheartening, sad and inhuman. The inflow of foreign tourists is already very low in Jharkhand and such an incident, which is being covered by global media, will deeply affect tourism in the state. It will take a long time for Jharkhand to rise from here and ensure travellers a safe space while exploring Jharkhand.”
“We have failed the Spanish Tourist as the citizens of Jharkhand, but we, including the government, police and judiciary should come forward and deliver justice for her immediately,” he added.
Rajeev Gupta, an avid adventurer and cyclist, who is Curator of TEDxKanke and a former Administrative Officer in Jharkhand said, “We have totally uprooted our practice of ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’. It's not an incident and one case but the repercussions would be for a longer period and it would reverse the progressive nature of India. We, as citizens, condemn such activities and request the Government to punish the culprits as soon as possible. Tourism is not only about an increase in GDP but it helps humanity to know and grow together. The Government should not only give political statements but come with serious actions.”
Meanwhile, the Spanish motorcycle rider has come out with a picture of one of the accused in her post on X and has appealed to people to help police find out the criminal and bring him to justice.
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