5-yr-old girl declared 'outcast', case lodged on child rights panel's order on 11th days of her trauma

The police today lodged a criminal case against ten prominent members of a village community near here for declaring a five-year-old, scheduled caste girl an "outcast" and making her suffer the ordeal of being left alone, bereft even of proper food and family's care.

The case was registered on the orders of the state's child rights panel chief Manan Chaturvedi, who swung into action after the plight of the hapless child, suffering the trauma all alone for last eleven days on outer courtyard of her house and surviving on the loafs thrown into her plate from a distance, came to her notice.

Hindoli Police station SHO Laxman Singh said the case was registered against ten persons today at 1.29 pm.

The girl had been declared an outcast, first for three days and then for another eight days, for unwittingly trampling upon a sandpiper's egg in her school premises in her village Haripura in neighbouring Bundi district with various authorities, including the school headmaster, teacher, aanganwadi officials and village sarpanch turning a blind eye to her plight all along.

The girl was declared outcast and ordered to undergo punishment under a local superstition that the breaking of the sandpipers' eggs brings bad omen to the community and deprives the village of the rains.

The child's plight came to light after her father complained to the area 'tehsildar' (a revenue official) that the community head was demanding costly wine and various snacks besides fodder to cows and edibles for fishes to end her ostracisation.

This made the 'tehsildar' sit up and take note of the girl's ordeal and rush to the village with personnel of local Hindoli police station and warn the community members against continued ostracisation of the child and urge them to revoke it.

Enraged by the girl's father reporting the matter to the authorities, the community head declared the entire family of the girl outcast for life last night.

Meanwhile, with the curious case of ostracizing a 5-year-old girl turning into a buzz amid the administrative authorities, Chairperson Chaturvedi of the Rajasthan State Commission of Protection of Child Rights undertook a prompt visit to the village today morning and was appalled to see the girl's plight.

Following a stern order by her, the police promptly lodged an FIR under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Juvenile Justice Act and the Untouchability Act against a total of eleven persons of the village.

The FIR was lodged under various penal provisions, including sections 384 (extortion), 508 (putting a person in the fear of divine displeasure) 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, Section 75 (exposing a child to various acts of cruelty like abandoning or neglecting it) of the Juvenile Justice Act and section 6 (for refusing to sell goods or provide various services after declaring a person untouchable) of the Untouchability Act.

After visiting the ill-fated child and her family, Chatuervedi also ordered various state largesse for the family following which the family was promptly given a gas connection, two months of ration.

The family was also promised electric connection, benefits of food security scheme and fund for toilet construction by the authorities.