Rewari gang rape case: Lawyers not to represent accused

A complete bandh was also observed with shops, other establishments and institutes being shut and the town wore a deserted look.

Image used for representational purpose only

CHANDIGARH: Lawyers have decided not to represent in court the three men accused of gang-raping a 19-year-old girl in Haryana’s Rewari district recently.

The 19-year-old woman, a school topper hailing from Rewari who had been felicitated by the government, was abducted at a bus stop in Kanina town in neighbouring Mahendragarh district on September 12 while she was on the way to a coaching class, police said.

She was allegedly drugged and gang-raped at a room housing a tubewell for irrigation.

Meanwhile, residents of the district have also given a memorandum to the Haryana Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya through the district administration demanding death sentence for the rapists.

Soon, a mahapanchayat (congregation of panchayats) of 36 communities would also be called on this issue.

Demanding justice for the gangrape victim and death for the three accused, a protest march was taken out in Kosli town. A complete bandh was also observed with shops, other establishments and institutes being shut and the town wore a deserted look.

The protesters demanded that all necessary help and support be given to the victim from the Haryana government’s side, and also demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment for the three men.

Rewari and Kosli Bar Associations have decided not to give legal representation to the accused in the gangrape case and demanded setting up of a fast track court to expedite the trial.

In Kosli, a mahapanchayat of 25 villages was held in which the diktat was issued that no practising lawyer would help any of the accused in this case. The members of the panchayat have also decided to meet the Bar Association in Chandigarh to appeal to lawyers not to help the accused.

Also in a memorandum to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the Rewari Bar Association has stated its decision not to represent the accused in the court.

The gangrape case has prompted opposition parties to demand Khattar's resignation on moral grounds, alleging the state had failed to protect its daughters.