RAPE BY MAOIST : Village reels under fear BY UPENDRA LAMICHHANE DEVAPUR TETA, Bara, Sept 11 - The fall out of a serious skirmish between Maoist rebels and locals in Devapur Teta village on Thursday over the killing of a Maoist who allegedly raped a woman, continued in the entire village into Sunday. A local youth was killed in fighting Friday, and Maoists have captured about a dozen villagers. The conflict followed the beating of Maoist cadre Ash Mohammad Mansuri to death by villagers who captured him on the charge of raping a local woman, Thursday morning. The Maoists claimed Mansuri was their cadre as against the villagers' argument. This has further intensified the already-tense situation in the village. The raped woman has conspicuous injuries over her entire body and she falls unconscious sporadically due to the mental stress, caused by the incident. She hasn't yet received medical treatment. Over a dozen other villagers, who were injured by the Maoist beating are also awaiting medical treatment. The villagers assemble at every chowk and share their fears with each other. Their fear has intensified after Maoists, claiming that the villagers are under their control, denied admission to police personnel. "We can't get into the village without their (Maoists') permission," said Arun Prakash Ghale, the police inspector at Telkuwa police base camp. "We could rescue the injured villagers, if we were allowed to get into the village." Many youths in this village, about 20 kilometers away from the district headquarters, have fled the village due to fear. Many houses remain padlocked. Maoists had abducted on Saturday Jodhi Shah Kanu, a local from Kalaiya on the charge of being an accomplice in the killing of their cadre. Kanu is the son of outgoing president of CPN-UML Dewapur Teta village committee, Mahabir Shah Kanu. The rebels accuse the senior Kanu of orchestrating a conspiracy in killing their cadre, Yadav. The abducted Kanu, however, pleaded innocence with media persons. Posted on: 2006-09-10 22:18:47 (Server Time)