A judicial probe is needed

Politicians in power and their henchmen are known to get away with murder, but the latest episode that ended in tragedy near Moga in Punjab on Thursday seems to be fitting that description literally.

Punjab is agitated over the death of a teenage dalit girl, who was thrown out of a moving private bus along with her mother. They were thrown out because the girl, her mother, and her brother, who was with them, resisted the men who sought to outrage the modesty of the teenager in public.

Among the accused are the bus driver, conductor and helper. They have been arrested. The bus belonged to a company owned by Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and his wife Harsimrat Kaur, a Union minister. The Badals are aware of the political sensitivity of the case. That’s why the inquiry into the incident is being held by an inspector-general of police.

What is frightening is that the FIR speaks of a haggling over bus fares. Often, in cases like this deaths are portrayed as accidents. That is why a judicial probe is called for. Probably the bus staff would not have been so brazen if they had not been the deputy CM’s employees. It’s time Mr Badal answered a few questions. The Lok Sabha Speaker should also allow a discussion since a company of the Union minister’s family is involved.