Visuals of a naked minor girl who was running on the streets with her private parts bleeding and seeking help to save her life from the people around her went viral on social media. The dreadful incident came to light from Ujjain city of Madhya Pradesh. Following the incident, the administration and the government swung into action and within 24 hours the accused was arrested. The Chief Minister of the state, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, said he will not tolerate crime against women; the accused will be hanged.
Following the heinous rape of the minor, the September 28 edition of Times of India published a cartoon showing the worshippers of cows as ones who did not help the minor.
After being called out, the Chief cartoonist of Times of India, Sandeep Adhwaryu, posted the cartoon claiming that the cartoon was not for Times of India but he had used the logo ‘by mistake’. He deleted the one with the TOI logo and apologised for it – not for the Hinduphobic cartoon – but for adding the logo of the organisation.
He claimed, “The presence of the TOI logo in my previous post was inadvertent as I had forgotten to remove it from the standard format of the frame before posting.”
Contrary to the cartoon, it was an ashram Pujari identified as Rahul Sharma who helped the minor and informed the police.
Rahul Sharma told NDTV, “I gave her my clothes. She was bleeding. She could not speak. Her eyes were swollen. I called 100. When I could not reach the cops over the helpline, I contacted the Mahakal police station and informed them about the situation. Police reached the ashram in about 20 minutes.”
Sharma said, “I gave her my clothes. She was bleeding. She could not speak. Her eyes were swollen. I called 100. When I could not reach the cops over the helpline, I contacted the Mahakal police station and informed them about the situation. Police reached the ashram in about 20 minutes.” Sharma said that at around 9:30 AM on Monday, while he was leaving the ashram, he saw the girl near the gates, who was partially naked and clearly injured with blood running down both of her legs.
Sharma added that although the girl was terrified of everyone, she was able to trust him to some extent. “Whenever someone else approached her, she tried to hide behind me. Then police came and took her with them,” he said.
As of now, the minor has been admitted to a hospital in Indore. The CM called the victim his daughter and the daughter of the state. He assured stringent punishment for every individual involved in the case.
Three persons have been arrested by the Police in the rape case, including an auto-rickshaw driver. According to Narottam Mishra, the home minister for Madhya Pradesh, a suspect has been detained and a special investigation team (SIT) has been established to look into the situation. The accused has been charged with rape in accordance with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Other than the silence and refusal of the locals who did not help the minor victim, the cartoon led to widespread outrage on social media.
What do the netizens say?
This is what activists, individuals and senior journalists said about the cartoon on social media platform X:
Senior journalist Swati Goel Sharma shared the cartoon on X and wrote, “Shame on you, @TOIIndiaNews. What has an innocent cow or the sentiment of cow protection got to do with the Ujjain case? As facts go, it was a temple pujari, most probably someone who reveres the cow, and shelters the victim Have you ever shown men in namaz as the background of a child raped in madrassas? Or men praying to Mary as the background of rapes by priests?”
Anand Ranganathan, a writer and speaker wrote, “Unhinged Hindu hatred. Are all Ujjain locals Hindus? Many of the homes along the route would have belonged to Muslims as well but @CartoonistSan only shows cow worshippers and not people offering namaz, ignoring also that it was a Hindu priest who ultimately came to the rescue.”
Influencer Anshul Saxena wrote, “Only person who came to rescue the rape victim girl in Ujjain is Priest Acharya Rahul Sharma. He covered her with a towel & rushed her to the hospital. He also informed the MP Police. TOI’s cartoon linked a rape incident with Hinduism but ignored the role of a Priest. Why so?”
Another verified user wrote on X, “TOI Cartoonist Sandeep Adhwaryu created a cartoon regarding the horrific incident of Ujjain Sandeep tried to show Hindus as the real culprit who didn’t help the victim But Sandeep doesn’t know that it was a Hindu Priest who finally took her to hospital for care”
Protests in Vidisha
Similar protests were seen across the streets of Madhya Pradesh in a town adjacent to the capital city, Bhopal. On September 29, the Hindu Chetna Sewa Samiti burnt copies of the newspaper in Vidisha. The head of the organisation, Rampal Singh Rajput questioned how could the publication print such a derogatory cartoon depicting cow worshippers in a bad light. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper should apologise to the whole Hindu community.
As per the reports, the minor was raped and dumped in the city’s Dandi Ashram. In the viral CCTV footage, the girl is seen walking on the streets with a rag around her upper body. She stops from door to door asking for help but to no avail.
“A girl, aged around 12 years, was found bleeding on a street located under the Mahakal police station area in Ujjain on Monday. She was taken to a hospital, where her initial medical examination confirmed that she had been raped,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Sachin Sharma said.
After the Madhya Pradesh Police arrested an autorickshaw driver, identified as Bharat Soni, for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl in the Ujjain district, his father Raju Soni on September 28 demanded strict punishment for him. According to Soni, those committing such gruesome crimes should be “shot” by the police.
“We are not able to come out of shame. What should I do? I can’t understand anything. That girl could have been my daughter…If I were in his place, I would have admitted my guilt and died with it,” the accused’s father told India Today.
He added, “Those who commit such crimes do not deserve to live. Whether it’s my child or anyone else’s, anyone who commits such a crime should be hanged or shot.”
According to a member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the victim’s condition has been improving, however, it may take a long time to recover from the mental trauma.
NCPCR member Divya Gupta said, “I have come after seeing the condition of the girl… She is fine and recovering… The accused involved in the incident have been caught by the Ujjain police and are being interrogated.” To be continued… The child is still emotionally traumatized… The child is not talking to anyone, is frightened by the sight of an unknown face and is asking to be removed. She is recovering medically but emotionally Is in shock.”
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