Memi Khatoon, a Bengali girl, lived with her father Sheikh Rasheed and mother Reena Begum in a small village of Malda District of West Bengal. As she narrated, she came to Delhi with her uncle and some other people of the village. At some place in Delhi, she met a woman whose name she doesn’t know though she can recognise her by face. The woman gave her some biscuits to eat after which she lost her consciousness and regained only when they reached some place in Rajasthan. Then she was taken to village Ponchhada under the Hindon Tehsil of Karoli District. As she reported, she was sold for Rs. 26000/- to Paramsukh Lal Bairwa, aged about 40 years, reports Dr. M. Iqbal Siddiqui,
State Media secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Rajasthan, in a statement on April 25.
According to her, he kept her as a ‘wife’, however without any religious or cultural ceremony. He used to drink wine and beat her mercilessly every now and then. She was behaved as a slave in the family. She tried to escape twice earlier also but was caught and thrashed brutally for the ‘crime.’
She was brought to Hindon’s Government Hospital for treatment 4-5 days ago. After seeing the doctor, Pramsukh Lal was taking her back home. Meanwhile she somehow managed to flee and reached Hindon Railway Station where she told the whole story to a man, who happened to be a social activist, and requested him to help her. The man took her with him and contacted Engineer Muhammad Saleem, State President Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, who called them to Jaipur where the girl was brought before media.
At a Press conference, addressed jointly by Er. Muhammad Saleem; Mrs. Nishat Husain, President Muslim Women’s Welfare Society; Mr. Pekar Farooq Advocate, State Convenor Association For Protection of Civil Rights; Ms. Kavita Shrivastava, Secretary General PUCL Rajasthan; and Ms. Nisha Siddhu, State Secretary Women’s Wing of CPI (M), the girl herself talked to the journalists and requested to help her get rid of the family who purchased her and kept her as a ‘captive wife’.
Er. M. Saleem expressed his concern over the matter and demanded immediate action from the government against the culprits. Mr. Pekar Farooq said that it is a heinous crime that a minor girl was kidnapped, sold for money, raped repeatedly and kept hostage. Ms. Kavita Shrivastava suspected that the incident must be part of a racket that kidnaps girls from various places in the country and sells them at various villages of Rajasthan.
All the organisations demanded from the government to take prompt action and arrange for the safety of the girl. Mrs. Nishat Husain and Nisha Siddhu raised the demand to re-establish Women’s Commission in the state.