- Shuraih Niazi
- BBC News
A video of a tribal girl being abused by some youths in Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh, has gone viral. Following the virality of this video, police have so far arrested 3 people and are investigating.
“The video was taken on Friday. No one has lodged a complaint in this regard so far. The police have registered a case based on the video,” Alirajpur police station superintendent Manoj Singh told the BBC.
Alirajpur district of the state is mostly inhabited by tribals. The Pororia Mela was organized on March 11 in Valpur village of the district.
The video shows a girl trying to hide behind a car parked at the festival and one of the youths passing by misbehaving with the girl. The video also shows another guy in the same group starting to pull the girl over and they take her away.
Image source, Shuraih Niazi/BBC
Display of viral video
Pororia Festival
Senior Congress leader KK Mishra, who shared the video on social media, slammed the government.
Questioning Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Selahan, he said that the ‘Betti Bachao’ movement (Save the Daughter Movement) movement in the state was going on like this.
The Pororia Mela is held in this area every year one week before the Holi festival. It is a kind of festival. In it you can get a closer look at the culture of the tribes and their lives. In it you can see the tribal youth and women wearing their traditional clothes.
Here you can buy items and see the music and dance of the tribe. It takes place in different areas every day and the youth actively participate in this festival.
It is also believed that the tribes buy and sell their necessities during the festival. But for the past few years, some say, the color of modernity has also been seen in this exhibition. Due to this the festival is said to be not like before.
At the same time, as the video went viral, police denied that the girl had been subjected to collective sexual abuse. They also said that information about other persons associated with them was currently being collected from those arrested.
Image source, Shuraih Niazi/BBC
Pororia Festival
Federal in the National Criminal Records Bureau Territory
The state of Madhya Pradesh ranks first in India in crimes against children and atrocities against tribals. At the same time, the state ranks 5th in violence against women.
The National Criminal Records Bureau (NCRB)’s 2020 report states that 2,401 cases have been registered in the state under the Prevention of Torture of Scheduled Tribes Act. The state has consistently topped the list for three years.
This is 20 percent more than the previous year. By 2020, 2,339 sexual assault cases have been registered. According to this, 6 women are sexually abused every day.
Siddharth Gupta, a social worker and lawyer, says it is possible to see that people in the state do not even register a case because they do not have faith that the police will do anything.
File photo
“At the same time, when people file cases, the police fail to provide them with protection. This is why people do not come forward to lodge a complaint even after a crime has been committed, which further enhances the courage of the perpetrators,” said Siddharth Gupta.
Although he went to the police to report the crime, the case was not registered. He also mentioned that many such issues have come to light in the state. But if the video of the incident goes viral, the police will start taking action, “he said.
Vijaya Pathak, another social activist, says violence against women is on the rise in the state.
“The government should do what it says. It is very important. The government raises big slogans for women and girls. But looking at the crime rate, it does not seem to be declining,” he said.
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