MP govt denies mass rape in village

Bhopal, Oct 1 (UNI) The Madhya Pradesh government has described as untrue an allegation that 11 Pardhi community women were raped on September 9 in Betul district's Chauthiya village.

''The statement -- apparently given by villagers to the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes -- appears misleading,'' a government spokesperson said last evening.

Pointing out that criminal cases were registered in connection with an attack on the Pardhi settlement, the spokesperson added that the villagers never mentioned the sexual assaults when they approached human rights organisations.

''In the wake of a women being gangraped and murdered in the vicinity of Chauthiya, a mob of villagers targeted the Pardhi settlement and torched some huts. The accusation that the administration and police cleared Pardhi abodes is also baseless.

The administration and police worked honestly and within the legal framework. The community was not subjected to any atrocity,'' the spokesperson claimed.

UNI