Midnapore, March 28: A young girl fought off her alleged molester - her 44-year-old cousin - with a spade but ended up killing him in her house in Keshpur's Damodar Chowk. She walked some 8-9 km to Keshpur police station and surrendered even as the dead man's neighbours staged protests in the locality to have her arrested.
The alleged molester, Sk Salauddin, was a married man with a child. Police took the 24-year-old girl in custody and questioned her for hours. Late in the evening, she was placed under arrest after Salauddin's widow Hasina Begum filed a complaint, accusing her of luring him to her house and murdering him in a planned manner.
According to the girl's version of events, the circumstances were different. She was alone in the house, studying for her SSC exams, when Salauddin entered just after noon. The rest of the family had gone to attend a relative's last rites. The spade was lying about the house (since it was a farmer family) and could have been a weapon of opportunity for the girl, say sources.
Salauddin allegedly took advantage of the empty house and molested the girl, who picked up a spade and swung at him. The fight seems to have gone on for some time because the screams drew a large crowd before Salauddin's dying cry was heard. Locals then entered the house and found him lying on the ground, bleeding heavily from a head wound. They took him to hospital but he died on the way.
Salauddin's neighbours staged protests demanding her arrest. While police claim they went to the house and detained her, the girl says she walked to the police station to surrender. Keshpur circle-inspector Shyamal Das said police questioned the girl and her mother.
A police officer said that every citizen has a right to defend themselves against any attack or offence, it needs to be proved that there was indeed a threat to life or body. "While there is a legal provision for self-defence, it needs to be proved in court. The person needs to establish that there was a genuine threat to her, which prompted her to attack in self-defence," senior criminal lawyer Milon Mukherjee said.
Recently, a woman fought off a rape attempt by slashing at her attacker with a razor. She almost severed his private parts. The mother of three was attacked in her home by a middle-aged neighbour in Alipur in northwest Delhi. To save herself, she fought back with a razor, critically injuring him. The Delhi Police did not press any charges against her. The would-be rapist was slapped with a case under Sections 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) and 354 (assault on a woman to outrage her modesty) of IPC.
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