Under Fire for Eviction Order to Mandsaur Rape Victim, Kamal Nath Govt Backtracks

Indore: After the Indore Development Authority issued a notice to the 8-year-old rape survivor to vacate the house allotted to her by the then-BJP government, chief minister Kamal Nath on Thursday assured the family that they would not be subjected to such harassment.

Soon after the IDA’s notice, CM Nath swung into action announcing relief for the distressed family.

“As soon as the matter came to the notice of the CM, he decided to reinstate the compensation announced by the Shivraj government. No inconveniences shall be caused to the family,” said Congress media cell in-charge Narendra Saluja.

The 8-year-old girl, who is now studying in Class III, was allegedly kidnapped near her school and gang-raped by two people in June, 2018, in Mandsaur. She was found with her throat slit and rushed to the hospital.

After the gruesome incident was reported, then CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced a rehabilitation package for the girl’s family which included a house, a shop for her father and education expenses of the girl. Accordingly, the victim’s family was shifted to Indore where they were allotted a flat, a shop and two children from the family were admitted in reputed schools.

However, trouble mounted for the family after the IDA recently cancelled their house allotment and asked them to vacate it as no formal orders were issued by the erstwhile government in this regard.

At the time of the order, the family was not living in the house in question. They had rented it out to generate some income and lived in a house close to the temple where they were allotted a shop.

The girl lives in a hostel in Indore with severe health issues resulting from the murderous assault.

The Congress flayed the Shivraj government for only providing “lip service” to the serious issue as no official order was made to fulfil his promise. “It is unfortunate that the one who was referred to as Mama did not implement on such a serious issue. But, we won’t do this,” Saluja said.

A massive outrage broke out last year after the brutal incident sent shockwaves across the country. The two accused — Asif and Irfan were found guilty and awarded death sentence by the court in July, 2018.