I just stumbled upon a news report that saddened me. I know that that incident which the news report covered is not the first of its kind but it does not pain any less. The news report, which I provide below in full, was about a few young men setting on fire a 11-year old girl in Bangalore because they had a dispute with the girl's father.
This is a murder most terrible. I pray for the soul of the little girl to heal. My heart goes to the girl's family.
I really hope and pray for violent-minded individuals in our society
to shed their violence. And if they don't then I really wish that the
laws of the state and the state enforcement machinery provide stringent
deterrents to violence and murder. In the case of this little girl, the onus is on the police of Bangalore to ensure a watertight case is built on the actual murderers and the planners of the murder.
11-yr-old girl set ablaze loses battle for life
An
11-year-old girl, who was set ablaze by a gang and battling for life at
Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru for the last two days, died on Saturday
morning. Kavitha had sustained 90 per cent burns after she was set
ablaze by four to five people early on Thursday morning. Kavitha, a
resident of Weavers’ Colony in Hulimavu and a fifth standard student at
the Bannerghatta Government School, was on her way to school with her
younger sister, eight-year-old Kavya. Her sister asked Kavitha to go
ahead as she wanted to meet some friends and go to a temple. No sooner
than they parted, the gang caught hold of Kavitha, doused her with
kerosene and set her ablaze. Kavitha’s father Venkatesh, a cab driver
with a travel agency, who was washing his car hardly 500 feet away from
the scene of the incident, saw his daughter on fire and rushed to her rescue. He
put out the fire, and immediately shifted her to Victoria Hospital. Venkatesh told Deccan Chronicle that
he suspected area rowdies behind the incident. “They were extorting
money from me for years. They came around asking for Rs 1,000, and
sometimes their demand went up to Rs 3,000. When their visits became too
frequent, I lodged a complaint with the Hulimavu police.” But after a
year, some influential people from the area pressured Venkatesh to
withdraw the complaint. “I never thought that filing a complaint would
lead to such a tragedy and I would lose my daughter one day,” said an
inconsolable Venkatesh.
But he could sense that the rowdies were
following him and keeping a watch on him for the last 15-20 days.
Kavitha, in a moment of consciousness, told Venkatesh that her attackers
had dyed their hair blond. Venkatesh’s younger brother Shiva said:
“Venkatesh is innocent and sincere in his work. Kavitha was a friendly
and jovial child. She was very active in sports and studies.” Dr Ramesh,
head of the plastic surgery department in Victoria Hospital, said:
“Kavitha had sustained over 90 per cent of burns all over her body, and
we had treated her on an emergency basis. We put her on oxygen support,
and administered painkillers and antibiotics. She was not fully
conscious, but was responding to some queries. But since the injuries
were deep and her neck and parts of her brain were burnt, her chances of
survival were very less.”
The
Hulimavu police have arrested Kavitha’s uncle Harish (32), his friend
Srinivas (26), and seven others for the crime. They suspect a family
dispute behind the incident. They said Harish allegedly asked Srinivas
to carry out the attack along with his associates. The other arrested,
who are all residents of Pinaganahalli, are: Manjunath (28), Babu (24),
Raghu (21), Raju (24), Puttaraju (26), Ramesh (26) and H. Harish (25).
The accused have been sent to judicial custody.
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