Chandigarh, April 22 (IANS) Allegedly harassed by police over their missing daughter, who was a rape victim, a Dalit family in Haryana's Hisar district Monday attempted suicide, leaving two dead and three others in a critical condition.
The mother of the rape victim and her sister were declared dead by doctors in Hisar civil hospital, 230 km from here, while the father and two brothers, aged 11 and nine, were admitted to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak in a critical condition.
Police officials said that the family had consumed poison in their house in village Bheri Akbarpur near Uklana town and were found by fellow villagers Monday morning.
The father of the rape victim said in Rohtak, where he is admitted for treatment, that the family entered into a suicide pact as police was harassing them for the past nearly one year since their teenaged daughter went missing after her rape. The family had reported the rape to the police May last year.
The father, who works as a labourer, said that they were forced to take the step to end their misery owing to the police harassment and poverty. He said that police had been questioning hinm and his family on the whereabouts of their missing daughter.
Police sources said that the rape victim went missing in June last year, just days after her rape complaint. The rape accused was under arrest.
The police said that inquest proceedings have been initiated in the matter.
