New Delhi, October 19: The names of three fathers on the birth certificate of a seven-year-old boy have become a much talked about subject in Madhya Pradesh’s Nigwani village. And the bizarre incident that happened eight years ago refuses to let the boy’s family live in peace.
While the unwed mother, Beena (name changed), has suffered ever since she was gang-raped by three men in 2003, the incident has now come to haunt her child.
Three men in Nigwani village, about 15km from Dindori district, had raped Beena, a minor tribal girl. Out of fear and shame, Beena, then 15, kept the fact hidden from her family until she reached an advanced stage of pregnancy.
On March 25, 2004, she gave birth to a male child named Tejlal.
As the matter reached the village panchayat (village council), Beena’s father, Sampatlal, named the three rapists — Malle Singh, Basant Das and Om Prakash. Surprisingly, the panchayat issued a birth certificate that included the names of the three rapists as fathers.
Flabbergasted
The case surfaced when the boy was admitted to a school recently. The school authorities were ‘shocked’ to find three names in the column under father’s name in the birth certificate.
In the records of the primary school, where the boy studied earlier, the column under father’s name had been left blank, but the current school authorities were flabbergasted and did not know what to do.
While the then sarpanch (head of village council) Pramod Parasthe said that the certificate was issued as per details given by Tejlal’s grandfather, the grandfather lamented it was done to ridicule the family.
When contacted, a social activist in Dindori told Gulf News, “The case has been brought to the knowledge of the district collector and sub-divisional magistrate. We are keeping a close watch and the authenticity of the certificate will be probed soon.”
The sub-divisional magistrate (Dindori) Kameshwar Choube said it was a shocking case of insensitivity. He said, “I will personally determine how a certificate of this nature was issued and take appropriate action after legal advice.”
-Courtesy: Gulf News