A 6-year-old Dalit girl has been found dead in Kampur (Uttar Pradesh). The little girl had disappeared on the eve of the Deepavali festival (last November 15) from the Ghatampur area. She was found with signs of torture, rape, with an open ribcage and stolen lungs. Police say the little girl’s lungs were removed to perform some magical rituals, with the belief that this could help a woman give birth to a son. The suspects – Ankul Kuril, 20, and Beeran, 31, were arrested and confessed to giving the victim’s lungs to Parshuram Kuril to perform the ritual. The latter’s wife was also arrested because, despite knowing about the murder, she said nothing to anyone.
India is considered one of the country’s most at risk for women. According to official statistics, there is one rape every 15 minutes. In 2019, crimes against women grew by 7.9% compared to the previous year. But it is above all little girls who fall victim.
On November 16, also in Uttar Pradesh, in the district of Fatehpur, the bodies of two Dalit sisters aged 8 and 12 were found in a pond. Their family claims that their daughters went to the fields in the afternoon to pick vegetables, but they never came back. They were killed after a failed rape attempt. Both bodies have eye wound marks.
“These unspeakable attacks on girls have become a ‘chronic disease’,” says Msgr. Felix Machado, Secretary General of the Indian Bishops. “Our girls – he continues – are the most vulnerable in society and our Dalit girls are the most exploited and weakest in society and these violations are extremely worri-some.  This is a Spiritual failure.”