In Bihar’s Gopalganj district, an 80-year-old Dalit Hindu woman was allegedly raped on 14th March 2025 when she had gone to a wheat field to cut grass. According to the complaint lodged by the victim’s son, at around 4:30 pm, the victim was attacked and gagged by a Muslim man who then allegedly raped her. Reports say that the accused also attempted to gouge out her eyes.
After the alleged crime, the 24-year-old main accused who is reported to be known by the alias Chhote Alam fled the spot after assuming that the unconscious victim had died.
A village girl spotted the victim in an unconscious state and then informed the 80-year-old woman’s family. Subsequently, the victim was brought to her home by her family and a doctor was called. The victim is reported to have regained consciousness on 15th March, after 19 hours.
The complaint filed by the victim’s family states that the accused persons had threatened the victim not to inform anyone about their heinous crime or they would kill her.
In his complaint, the victim’s son mentions that after she revealed her ordeal before them, they went to one of the accused Syed Ali’s house to confront him. However, accused Syed Ali, Babudin, Shahabuddin, Saddam, Hashmat and Jummadin drove them away and hurled casteist slurs.
During #Holi, a #Dalit #Hindu woman was gangraped in #Bihar. @TOIIndiaNews promptly mentioned "During Holi" to give an impression that the crowd celebrating Holi i.e. Hindus had done this heinous crime. They do not disclose the name of the criminals, which you should have guessed… pic.twitter.com/WgLtF9rLhP
— saket साकेत ಸಾಕೇತ್ ?? (@saket71) March 18, 2025
“S*&la ch@m%&r siyaar, hamare darwaze par aa kar shikayat karne aa gya. Bhago nahi toh yahin ch@m&%r siyaar m@d&*c^%d jaan se maar denge,” the complaint cites the accused persons as saying.
The police have registered a case against the accused persons including the main accused, four of his family members and two others present at the crime scene, under relevant BNS sections and the SC/ST Act.
The Baikunthpur, Police Station SHO earlier said that one of the persons who was present with the accused has been arrested while efforts are on to arrest the main accused and others.
According to an Aajtak report, Sadar SDPO Abhay Kumar Ranjan has said that the victim was sent for medical examination and the medical reports refute the allegations of rape as mentioned by the victim’s family in the complaint, however, the physical assault was confirmed. The officer also reportedly stated that the main accused had been arrested.
Times of India omits names of the Muslim accused, insinuates old woman raped by Holi celebrating men
The Times of India newspaper published a report on this incident, however, not without omitting the names of the Muslim accused and insinuating that the incident happened amidst Holi celebrations as if the Holi-celebrating Hindu men raped the victim. “An 80-year-old dalit woman was allegedly raped in a village in Gopalganj district amid Holi on March 14,” TOI report headlined “Elderly Dalit woman raped in Gopalganj during Holi”.
Meanwhile, ETV Bharat also insinuated that the Dalit woman was raped during Holi celebrations and did not mention the names of the Muslim accused.
Similarly, The Observer Post, an Islamist ‘media’ outlet notorious for peddling fake news and false narratives, also insinuated that the alleged incident happened during Holi celebrations. Despite mentioning details from the complaint, both the Islamist propaganda outlet and TOI omitted the names of the Muslim accused and laid emphasis on Holi and casteist slurs hurled at the victim by the accused. Thus, keeping the readers the impression that the casteist slurs spoken against the Dalit woman and the alleged crime were committed by Holi-celebrating ‘upper caste’ Hindu men.
While The Observer Post withholding names of the Muslim accused and using the “during Holi celebrations” framing is not surprising since defending Islamists is their core agenda, a mainstream media outlet like the Times of India publishing such misleading headlines is alarming.
