Indian state of Madhya Pradesh where the incident reportedly took place, an official with close knowledge about the talks said Wednesday, June 7.
The women along with Pastor Sarachand Chauhan, met Governor Balram Jhakar and presented their case," said Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC).
The women aged 22 and 24, of which one is seven months pregnant, claimed they were "gang-raped" last week, May 28, in Nadia, village in Madhya Pradesh state’s Khargon district, in a case that shocked the Christian community in India and around the world, George said. Their exact spelling of their full names were not immediately released, apparently because of safety concerns.
He confirmed however that Governor Jhakar "asked the Director General of Police and Chief Secretary to send him the details of the case" and "for an action taken report from the officials."
POLICE CRITICIZED
Christian rights investigators criticized local police for not registering the case immediately. "The police refused to register their cases as the men involved are politically powerful and belong to the frontal organizations of the ruling party," George claimed.
The rape allegedly took place with the encouragement of the local village chief and the backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party in this north-central state.
There was no immediate reactions from police officials.
Despite the delays, Pastor Chauhan said a medical examination "confirmed the rapes" and that further examinations samples have been send for DNA test, GCIC reported.
WOMEN TALK
In published remarks, the younger woman recalled that the men went into her house at around 10 p.m. local time when she was alone, while her husband was meeting a relative. "I ran out of the house and took shelter in the house of my neighbors," she told the governor, according to the statement, monitored by BosNewsLife.
The militants allegedly dragged her out to an open field where two men raped her, the rest of the gang watched while the woman cried for help. When her husband and his friend rushed to her assistance, the men on guard beat them with bamboo and wooden sticks, she said.
Her friend, the 24-year old woman who said she is seven months pregnant was reportedly overpowered her before she could run away or hide. After chasing her father-in-law from the house and beating her mother-in-law, who was trying to stop them, they dragged her outside, threw her on to a cot in front of the house and tore off her clothes. Three men then took turns raping her, the woman said.
RAPE "RETALIATION"
Both women said the gang rape was “in retaliation” for their families’ refusal “to leave the Christian faith.” The victims were identified as converts who attended house prayer meetings of the Indian Evangelical Team (IET).
Earlier that day, they said, the same men, whom they recognized as from the village, beat the husband of the younger woman and forced him to drink alcohol, while demanding that he renounce Christianity.
Pastor Chauhan said the drinking liquor is considered a taboo among especially tribal Christians. The culprits allegedly forced them to drink liquor “to defile” their Christian faith.
NEW "WEAPON"
Local Christians and investigators have expressed concern that rape will be used as a “weapon of choice” by Hindu militants with ties to several Hindu groups in states like Madhya Pradesh.
A similar incident reportedly took place in Jamanya village in the neighboring state of Maharashtra last year when Hindu militant villagers attacked 11 Christian families, sexually assaulting the women, on May 16, 2005, when they refused to give up their faith. (With BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos and BosNewsLife reports from India and the United Kingdom).
