Hindaun City (Rajasthan) - May 9th might have seemed like an ordinary summer day for many, but for a family in Rajasthan, it marked the beginning of a harrowing ordeal.

In Hindaun City, a family who awaited the return of their eleven-year-old daughter, Parul Meena (name changed), who had gone out to play, found her lying naked and charred instead.

Their beloved daughter had come home for the school holidays. Parul, who was both mute and deaf, attended a special school for the hearing and speech impaired. She had arrived in Hindaun City in April, having just completed fourth grade and entered fifth. Her school, located in the Karauli district, required her to stay in a hostel, returning home only during breaks. Parul's family hailed from the tribal community and resided in a village in Todabhim Nagar. Formerly part of Karauli district, Todabhim now fell under Gangapur City.

As The Mooknayak team arrived in the scorching heat of May 29th, with temperatures soaring to 47 degrees Celsius, the village appeared serene amidst dry and rocky hills. Parul's family home nestled at the foot of these hills, with a shed made of iron sheets serving as shelter for their buffalo. In the courtyard, Parul's mother, uncle, father, and other relatives sat, awaiting our arrival.

Even before we could settle down, a five-year-old girl rushed towards us, clutching a picture of Parul, as if intuitively aware of our purpose. Until then, we had only glimpsed Parul through pictures and videos on social media following the incident. Yet, as we beheld her image, captivating in its beauty, she seemed poised to break her silence.

We initiated our conversation with Parul's father, a man aged somewhere between 40-45, whose graying beard and hair betrayed the weight of his anguish. We advised him to shield his identity by covering his head with a cloth or scarf.

He began recounting the events leading to the tragedy. "My daughter went out to play while I watched, and ten minutes later, I left home to shave. Soon after, I received a frantic call. Neighbors informed me that someone had burned my daughter. I rushed home and rushed her to a nearby hospital, only to be directed to Jaipur for urgent medical attention."

Parul's father disclosed that they were unfamiliar with the assailants, who lived about one or two kilometers away. However, the assault occurred in their field, adjacent to their home, where Parul had ventured to play. At the behest of experts, we provided photographs of local residents, among which Parul identified a suspect.

Using gestures, the child indicated the involvement of two individuals and mimicked pouring a bottle's contents on herself. Although the nature of the substance remains unclear, the police have asserted that she suffered an electric shock, a claim vehemently contested by the family.

Despite repeated pleas to allow Parul to provide her statement, the police remained unyielding. Finally, on May 14th, following persistent requests, experts presented Parul with photographs of certain individuals, leading to her identification of the perpetrators.

The incident occurred on the morning of May 9th, around 10 AM. The FIR for the case was filed on May 11th. The family explained that they were delayed in filing because they were overwhelmed by the tragedy.

The family members listened intently to our conversation. The child's uncle, who has been staying with the family since the incident, stated that the girl had consistently indicated the involvement of two individuals. However, she specifically identified a person named Lalit Sharma because they had shown her his picture. She couldn't identify the second person as the picture shown might not have included him.

On May 15th, the accused was arrested. On the same day, an examination for rape was conducted on the girl. However, her private parts were severely burned. Despite this, the family has not been informed about the findings of the examination. They have repeatedly asked the police for the post-mortem and medical reports, but the police have refused, citing ongoing investigations.

The uncle also alleged that the police threatened to file a case against them and imprison them for ten years because they had organized a protest regarding the incident. All the relatives sitting with the men claimed that the police were harassing their family members and neighbors, pressuring them to change their statements.

When asked what the police have been telling them, the uncle replied that the police were accusing them of coaching the girl to deliberately identify the accused through gestures, even though the statements were made in the presence of a police officer.

The girl's mother sat quietly. She was the first to see her daughter after the incident. She recounted that the girl was naked, which might have made her hesitant to come forward due to embarrassment.

She continued, "We have two rooms, one in front of which we tie the buffalo. It was morning, and I was telling her to come inside. But she wanted to play and gently pushed me away, happy to go play. There was no electricity, and I needed to take a bath, so I thought I'd check on her after half an hour or so and then take a bath.

There's a path right outside our house, and a little further away, there are fields with a tree where I heard what sounded like shouting. Since she couldn't speak, her distressed sounds alarmed me. The boundary there is quite high (gesturing to her waist). I saw her peeking from beside the tree, and I thought she might have been stung by a bee or something. I moved towards her, but seeing me, she came over the boundary herself. I realized the marks weren't from a bee sting and wondered what had happened to her. She gestured towards two men (she makes a moustache-twisting gesture to indicate a man, which her mother also uses while explaining). She indicated that they had run in a certain direction. I didn't pay much attention to her words and, seeing her condition, asked a neighboring girl for a shawl. Then her father came and took her to the hospital."

The mother recounts the police's attitude, stating, "The police are accusing us of burning our own daughter. 'Can parents do that to their own child? They are blaming us instead of doing their job."

As she was finishing her story, other family members began to speak up, expressing their dissatisfaction with the police. The daughter had identified one person. She gave her statement in front of a police officer, yet the police claimed that the family had coached her to lie.

The father alleged that he received a call from an unknown number, offering a bribe to drop the case in exchange for a plot of land and some money. The caller claimed to be the accused's uncle. However, the father refused, stating they wanted justice, not money.

The distance from the village to Hindaun City is approximately 35 kilometers. As we were about to leave the village, the child's uncle showed us pictures of the girl on his phone. Parul enjoyed making reels and frequently video-called her family. Among these pictures was a harrowing one taken after she was burned. Her skin was severely damaged, with about 65% of her body burned. Her wounds were covered with some liquid or medication. Another picture showed the girl without clothes, lying on what appeared to be a hospital bed, with her skin blackened and her injuries even more horrifying.

Parul's school, where she studied, is about 35 to 40 kilometers away. With the summer holidays having started, we spoke to the school's principal, Snehlata, over the phone. She expressed deep sorrow over what had happened to Parul.

"Parul was very well-behaved. She was good at her studies and enjoyed playing. Since the summer holidays had begun, she went home on April 21. Her grandmother usually came to pick her up. In class, she got along well with both students and teachers," Snehlata shared.

Snehlata also mentioned that she learned about the incident through YouTube. Later, the police visited her as well.

"We spoke to the child too. We asked her in sign language what had happened and who did it. But the child couldn't explain much. We couldn't understand her properly," Snehlata explained.

She further clarified that the child was in a lot of pain. Being mute and deaf, such children communicate through hand gestures. But Parul was in so much pain that she could barely lift her hand, which made it impossible to understand what had happened to her.

During a video conference with an expert, the child indicated there was one person involved. However, she couldn't elaborate on what had happened because her condition was so bad that her hands couldn't move, preventing her from communicating through gestures.

Parul Meena's parents lived in Hindaun City due to work. They had a two-room house with a courtyard where they kept buffaloes on one side and had a kitchen on the other. The family sustained themselves by rearing four buffaloes and selling the milk. After the incident, the entire family moved back to their ancestral home. Now, only Parul's grandmother and an uncle remained in Hindaun City to take care of the buffaloes.

In one room, Parul's school clothes and books were placed neatly on a shelf. Her uncle brought them out and placed them on a cot, saying, "This is her stuff." The room contained scattered clothes, a couple of pairs of shoes, some books, and a cot, with no other valuable items visible. The other room stored buffalo feed, a large box, a grain storage container, a gas cylinder, and a stove. The stove still had a pot of milk recently boiled on it.

Parul's grandmother was silent, repeatedly saying, "What happened to my grand daughter was terrible." Another uncle took us to the spot where the incident occurred, about 150 steps from the house, in a place devoid of people.

The area was surrounded by fields, where the crops had been harvested, leaving only soil. On the other side of the fields, a railway track was visible, about 30-40 feet away, with regular train traffic.

The fields were enclosed by stone walls about three feet high. Pointing to a spot, the uncle indicated where they found pieces of the child's clothing, which the police had taken. A small patch of soil had been dug up, which the uncle said the police took for evidence.

About 35-40 feet away from the fields stood a towering electric transformer, measuring about six feet in height, enclosed within its boundary. Around 50-60 feet from the transformer, the child was discovered by her mother, unclothed and bearing burn injuries from the chest downwards.

The incident unfolded in three distinct locations: the spot where the girl's clothes were discovered, the area where she was found, and the site of the transformer.

Despite the severity of the situation, the transformer remained untouched, showing no signs of damage or burning. The father mentioned the police's theory of electrocution, raising perplexing questions.

How did the girl's clothes end up 30-40 feet away from the transformer's left side, assuming she was electrocuted?

Furthermore, what led to the girl herself being found 50-60 feet away from the transformer on the left side?

Complicating matters, the transformer stood beyond the boundary of the field.

If electrocution occurred, how did she end up inside the field? Adding to the mystery, the transformer's considerable height, exceeding six feet, raised the question: how did the girl reach it?

These questions, crucial for understanding the incident, awaited answers from either the police or the accused. Hence, we resolved to approach both sides for clarity.

The police station stood within proximity of the victim's family home. Inquiring about the Parul Meena case, one officer directed us to the CO (Circle Officer) for further details.

However, another officer informed us that he had just left five minutes ago and suggested us contacting him via phone. Speaking with the CO over the phone, he disclosed his absence from town and redirected us to the SP (Superintendent of Police).

Upon reaching out to the SP, we encountered reluctance to address our inquiries. Despite our persistence, the SP tersely confirmed the arrival of the post-mortem report, negating any indication of rape.

This revelation sparked a critical inquiry: with the victim's private parts burned, how could rape be conclusively determined?

SP Brijesh Jyoti Upadhyay, appearing irritated and agitated, dismissed further questioning, proposing a press conference instead. He cited the ongoing investigation as reason for withholding details before abruptly terminating the call.

While numerous queries lingered unanswered, delving into the accused family's perspective became imperative. Despite reluctance from police officers to provide contact details, our relentless efforts led us to their residence. There, we encountered Lalit Sharma's wife, brother, sister-in-law, and their children.

Lalit Sharma's wife, aged 37, a mother of three, with the eldest child at 18, recounted learning of the girl's burns several days post-incident, oblivious to her husband's impending accusation.

She vehemently refuted the allegation, asserting her husband's presence solely within their household's general store on the 9th.

She tearfully stated, "My husband, aged over 40, seldom ventures beyond the shop premises. On the 9th, he remained within our shop. Our store is integrated within our home." Emotions welled up as she narrated, drawing her younger brother-in-law into the conversation.

Asked about familiarity with the victim's family, they denied any prior acquaintance. The younger brother-in-law also disclosed their involvement in a clothing store.

He clarified, "Our mother oversees operations in the adjacent field. We're strangers to them and fail to comprehend the rationale behind implicating us. My brother is incapable of such actions."

Their general store, situated within their residence, boasted three external shutters. One section stocked various commodities, including cooking essentials, spices, chips, water, and miscellaneous bottles with unidentified contents. While documenting the shop, Lalit's wife interjected, "He's so simple person that even if a lizard appears here, I'm the one chasing it away!"