In the interest of 'societal harmony', upto 32 alleged rapists have been let off the hook in the aftermath of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.

The arrangement was made between two absolutely unrelated instances of rape. In the first case, five Muslim women were allegedly raped during the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots by 22 Hindu men in Fugana village. In the second instance, in June 2014, ten Muslim men allegedly raped a Hindu woman in Dholera village. Both villages, at least 20 kilometres apart, are in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district.

It was after the Hindu woman was raped that an opportunity presented itself to get all the alleged rapists off the hook. A compromise was hatched by individuals linked to both incidents, from both communities. The Hindu rape survivor testified that she was not raped by her alleged rapists and the five Muslim rape survivors said the same. While the cases are on-going, due to these key statements from the rape survivors, they are bound to fail against the 32 alleged rapists.