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Mewat: Locals forced to dress girls in boys’ clothes to hide their identity as crimes against women rise in the Islamists dominated area

Dr. Ravi Mathur, a retired senior medical officer, informed the journalists that he used to handle hundreds of cases of rape in a year.

People living in the Mewat region of Nuh, a Muslim-majority district in Haryana, are being forced to hide women and even girls. A ground report of Dainik Bhaskar exposes the ground situation in Mewat where rising cases of sexual crimes against women and girls are forcing people to hide women in their families.

As per the report, it is common for people in Mewat to cross-dress girls as boys to protect them from becoming ‘targets’. In the report, two women journalists from Dainik Bhaskar narrated their experience of travelling through villages in Mewat. “It is 7 PM. We are in Alwar of Mewat region where rape cases are on the rise. We explored dozens of villages in the Ramgarh police station area. There is a strange sense of fear and discomfort in this area”, the journalists write.

Girls under 4 years dressed as boys in Mewat

On the way from Viratnagar to Sariska, the journalists saw a home where the clothes of children were hung outside for drying. Upon asking, the old woman in the house told them that she has four granddaughters between the ages of 1 to 4 years, but she dresses them in boys’ clothes so that no one can find out that they are girls. The journalists found a similar situation in the Tijara region.

Moving through the market on their way to Thanagazi, the journalists noticed that there were hardly any shops for women’s wear. The people in the market were mostly men. “Among the shops for men’s clothes and shoes, we could find a saree shop but the customers at that shop were all men”, the journalists observed.

They also came across a group of women. All of them were covered head to toe with only their eyes visible. They were waiting for an auto with passengers as they feared sitting in an auto by themselves.

Windows of houses were covered to block any view from outside

Next, the journalists went to Mandari village where they witnessed a similar environment. Several cases of the POCSO Act (Prevention of Children against Sexual Offences Act) were reported in the village. Women had covered their faces, even those sitting right at the gates of their houses. The windows in the houses were covered to block the view from outside. In the houses there, the clothes of men were hanging outside for drying but the women’s clothes were hung inside to avoid being noticed. The women in the area have reportedly modified their lifestyle to keep themselves safe amid the crumbling law and order situation. An advocate Ashok Sharma told the journalists that even girls as young as 5 are not safe in the region as they are easy targets.

Dr. Ravi Mathur, a retired senior medical officer, informed the journalists that he used to handle hundreds of cases of rape in a year. Even animals were apparently subjected to bestiality. “I have seen over 70 cases registered under the POCSO Act in the last few months. The situation will change only when we sensitize boys”, said Deputy SP Dr. Poonam Chauhan, in charge of the Special Investigation Unit for Crimes against Women.

Men guard the gates of houses at night

Locals in Maliwas village in Tulera told the journalists that several girls in the village were married off as young as 14 due to fear for their safety. The gravity of the situation can be inferred from the fact that fathers and brothers in the families guard the gates of houses at night. According to village Sarpanch Babbal Yadav, the teachers in the schools have been directed to inform the family immediately if a child is not present in the class.

Locals warned journalists not to walk alone

When the journalists headed into the interiors of Ramgarh, Naugawan, Bagar Tiraha and M.I.A. (Matsya Industrial Area) in Alwar after finding out about the high number of rape cases there, the locals warned them against going there after dark. The region has a scarcity of water due to which women have to walk for 2 km to fetch water risking their safety.

Nuh district in Mewat has always been a communally sensitive region. In July 2023, a mob of hundreds of Islamist rioters attacked Hindu devotees participating in the Brijmandal Jalabhishek Yatra in Nuh, Mewat, of Haryana. At least six people were killed as a result of the riots. In the wake of the attack on the violence, Home Minister Amit Shah had assured about the establishment of a special and permanent camp for the Rapid Action Force (RAF) in the communally sensitive Muslim-majority district of Mewat in Haryana.

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