Cuttack, March 17: The people of the city woke up to shock and chagrin this morning as the news of issuance of "fatwa" and imposition of fine on the parents of a three-year-old rape victim by a local residents' committee made headlines in newspapers.

Mangalabag police yesterday arrested four officials of the Thoria Sahi local residents' committee - Muna Nayak, Raju Nayak, Prashant Mukhi and Dipu Nayak - for allegedly harassing the rape victim's family and forcing them to pay a fine of Rs 10,000. However, the people of the city believe that the "khap-panchayat style" diktat" shows that local committees are increasingly intruding upon the personal space of the people.

"We have seized the register containing the proceedings of a committee meeting in which a fine was imposed on the victim's family. So far, we have also ascertained the role of two more persons in the incident," said deputy commissioner of police Sanjeev Arora. He said the rape-victim's family had already moved to an undisclosed location fearing attacks on their lives.

However, Arora assured that the family will be provided with tight security.

"The ruling of the local resident's committee clearly portrays that rhetorical picture of how ready are we to protect the rights of children. Instead of trying to give justice to the minor girl and her family, the local association members were trying to protect the accused. This is shameful," said Dolly Dash, a social and child rights activist.

Bikash Mohapatra, chairman of the district child welfare committee, said: "Such kind of fatwa or khap-styled judgment issued by a local residents' committee cannot be accepted in any civilised society. This incident should come to all of us as an eye-opener."

The parents of the minor rape victim had lodged a police complaint after the three-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 15-year-old boy of the same locality on January 27. Subsequently, the police had arrested the boy.

But ever since, the members of the local residents' association started to mount pressure on them to withdraw the complaint and also threatened them with dire consequences if they did not oblige.

The rape victim's family members then appealed to the district child welfare committee and the Mahila police about the incident, after which the administration swung into action.