Gudiya gangrape-murder puts spotlight on women safety in HP

An odd five kilometres along what can be termed as a semblance of a road that leads uphill from the road to Kotkhai, is a newly constructed tap next to a pond. The water inside it is yet to come in, and it is likely to come in on the 19th. The tap was made in the memory of a 14-year-old who would walk past that very road every day to reach her school. The gangrape and murder of the girl, who has come to be known as Gudiya today, stirred the conscience of the state in the wake of the incident that took place in July.

Two days after she disappeared on her way home on July 4, the minor girl’s body was found in a forest nearby by her relatives. Recalling that moment, the girl’s father finds his solace in anger.

“One should have seen my daughter’s body when I found her; there were no clothes on her, not even her socks. I saw my daughter like that, one cannot even imagine. We later found out that she was strangulated, and her arms and legs were broken. Why would anyone do that,” said her father, Kishan Thakur*.

The case is now …read more