Shakuntata Verma after her operation of Wednesday (AFP)

Bhopal, May 12: Madhya Pradesh police continued to grope in the dark about the identity of a youth who chopped off the hands of a woman campaigning against child marriage.

Shakuntala Verma, a supervisor in the child and welfare department, was attacked at home on Tuesday evening by a youth who knocked on her door on the pretext of seeking directions to a house.

Verma’s daughter Raina and son-in-law Rajesh Jaat today asserted that they were convinced the attack was directly linked to child marriages, solemnised all over the state yesterday to mark Akshaya Tritiya. On this day, which comes once a year, weddings can be held at any hour.

Raina and Rajesh accused the government of trying to cover up the incident and alleged that the district authorities in tribal-dominated Dhar, about 250 km from Bhopal, had pressured them not to speak to the media.

“When she was being rushed to the hospital on Tuesday night, I heard her mumble that she was targeted for preventing child marriage,” Raina said. “My mother had no enemy, so how can the police say it was an act of enmity?”

Verma, 48, regained consciousness off and on today but she was not in a condition to give a statement. Raina said her mother had been asked by Dhar’s sub-divisional magistrate to inquire into a complaint by a villager in Bhanpur, Gopal, that some child marriages were being planned on May 11. When she visited the village on May 3, she had a heated argument with some villagers, Raina added.

Gopal has been summoned for interrogation. While senior police officers refused to comment on record, privately they said Verma’s move to blow the whistle could have led to the attack on her.

Dhar collector D.P. Ahuja said Verma had submitted a report to the sub-divisional magistrate, but claimed ignorance about the altercation. “After she inquired about a complaint of child marriage in Bhanpur on May 3, she had sent a report to the SDM claiming that she had found no evidence to suggest that a child marriage was in the offing. Linking the attack to her reported objection is jumping to a conclusion.”

Women’s organisations in Indore staged a procession demanding Ahuja be sacked.

Women and child welfare department secretary S.R. Mohanty said he is not sure if the attack was linked to child marriage.

Doctors at Indore’s Gokuldas Hospital said Verma was doing fine and they were monitoring blood flow to her hands, which have been stitched.