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‘Malala of Bihar’ to be honoured for courage

11 years ago | Posted in: Education, India, World | 731 Views

Patna: Local villagers fondly address her as the “Malala of Bihar”.

Like Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistani teenager who was attacked by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education, a 13-year-old girl from Bihar showed courage by fighting with a criminal — while alone at home — and thwarting his rape bid.

Immensely impressed by her gallantry, the state administration in Bihar has now announced to honour the braveheart Putul Kumari, a class VIII student of Kushthani village in Madhepura district, during the Republic Day on January 26.

Daughter of a daily wage earner who works in north Indian state of Punjab to support his family, the little girl was alone in her house on Wednesday night when a 19-year-old criminal entered her house and tried to rape her. Showing tremendous guts, the 13-year-old girl bravely fought with the criminal and finally chased him away by brutally wounding him with an axe (used to chop fodders in the rural farming families).

ased on her statement, a case was later registered with the Udakishunganj police station and massive manhunts launched to nab him after which he was finally arrested. The injured accused is now undergoing treatment under police supervision at a local primary government hospital in Madhepura district, some 245 kilometres north-east of Patna, capital of Bihar state.

Respecting her valour, the local administration has now declared to honour the braveheart in the full presence of the crowd during the Republic Day. “The police salute her valour… This will surely set an example for others,” the local district superintendent of police Saurav Kumar Shah told the Gulf News by phone on Saturday. Stating that she could obviously be an inspiration for her community, the police official hoped more would follow her in days to come.

 

“Our purpose is to motivate the girls and create self-confidence in them,” said the police official, hoping that many would follow her in days to come. “That will create fear among the criminals, ruffians and rapists, and there will surely be a drastic fall in crime graph” the SP explained.

This is the first time here that any government in Bihar has declared to honour a girl who resisted rape bids. Strangely, the section 228 of the Indian Penal Code, as say the legal experts, prohibits naming a rape victim unless she authorises it or if she is dead or her family agrees her to be named.

Earlier, Indian Minister of State for Human Resources Development Shashi Tharoor had suggested revealing the name and identity of the 23-year-old Delhi gang-rape victim who ultimately died in a Singapore hospital so that she could be publicly honoured, triggering fresh debate.

“Wondering what interest is served by continuing anonymity of #DelhiGangRape victim. Why not name&honour her as a real person w/own identity?” Tharoor had tweeted in the aftermath of the incident. While the Congress termed the idea as minister’s “personal view”, the BJP flayed him for making such suggestion.

 

ref: gulfnews.ae

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