Bhandara shame: Guilty should be hanged in public, says mother

The mother of the three sisters who were raped, killed and dumped in a well is inconsolable but she is determined to get justice.

Zeenews Bureau Bhandara, Maharashtra: As a single mother she toiled hard to bring up her three daughters but they have been snatched away now. The mother of the three sisters who were raped, killed and dumped in a well is inconsolable and has only one demand - justice. She wants justice for herself and for her helpless girls aged 11, 8 and 6, who are no more with her. The state government announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs for three young lives, a meagre amount in reality but surely big money for the poor lady but she is does not want it. She said: “I don’t want any compensation; the government should use that money to catch the guilty.” The three minor sisters had gone missing on February 14 from their village near Lakhni town in Bandara district, 65 kilometres from Nagpur. When her daughters did not return from school till late evening, the mother approached the local police station and with much difficulty lodged a missing complaint. However, the police did not initiate a search that night.

Two days later their bodies were found dumped in a well near a dhaba some distance away from the village. The police first filed the case as that of ‘accidental death’; however the autopsy confirmed that the girls were murdered. A news agency claimed – based on autopsy report – that the girls were subjected to unnatural sex. Some reports claimed that the girls were hungry that day and had gone out to look for food and fell into a trap. The mother says, “The first day we reported the police did nothing. Had they searched for my daughters that day (the day they went missing), they would have been alive today.” Speaking to a news channel, the mother said, “I want justice. My daughters won’t come back with money. All those who did this should be caught and hanged in public…nothing else will do.”