Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) Vice President Prof. Salim Engineer has expressed utter grief and concern over the self-immolation incident outside the Supreme Court of India. In a statement on August 26, the JIH leader has lamented that this unexpected incident outside the apex court of the country is like landing itself into the court of justice.
The horrific incident happened on August 16, in which a rape victim aged 24 years female and witness aged 27 years man allegedly self-immolated themselves in front of a gate of the court and later they died in a hospital. The woman was from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, seeking justice since 2019. She was allegedly raped by Bahujan Samaj Party MP Atul Rai in 2019. The MP is currently in judicial custody in the rape case. The woman had alleged that five police officers were protecting the accused MP, who was continuously harassing the victim. In March, the woman had filed a plea in the Supreme Court, seeking transfer of her rape case for a fair trial from Allahabad to Delhi on grounds of threat to her life. But, in August, a local court in Varanasi issued a non-bailable warrant against her in a case of forgery based on a complaint filed by the accused MP’s brother.
Prof. Salim Engineer has maintained that the root cause of growing such anti-women shameless incidents in the country is delay in rendering justice and escape of perpetrators from conviction. He said, “Growing frustration with the judicial system is extremely worrying and dangerous. The nexus of the police administration, politicians and criminals is disappointing for the country.” He called on the eminent and enlightened people, social organisations and workers of the country to come forward to stop such immoral incidents.
Prof. Salim Engineer has demanded a court-monitored CBI probe into the incident, for ensuring justice to the victim, posthumously. He also asked the Government to give suitable compensation to family members of the victims as soon as possible. “The government and the judiciary need to take appropriate steps to restore and maintain public confidence in the judicial system,” the JIH Vice President added.