In the last four days, four incidents of rape have been reported from different district of Uttar Pradesh three of the four crimes have been committed on minor girls.
Ayodhya
In Ayodhya, the Principal and two staff members of a private school were booked for allegedly gang raping a 15-year-old girl on May 28. The CCTV footage showed the girl falling off the building and the girl’s father was called to the school stating that the girl fell off the swing. The father however alleged that the principal called his daughter to school early to school while the school was shut for summer vacation and he and two teachers raped her and threw her off the building to hide their crime. The girl died during treatment.
“On the basis of the father’s complaint, the police have registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 376-D for gang rape, 302 for murder, 201 for concealment of crime and 120-B for criminal conspiracy, as well as Sections 3 and 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act against the manager, the principal and the sports teacher at the Cantt police station on Friday itself,” inspector general of police (Ayodhya), Praveen Kumar told Hindustan Times. Ayodhya is usually in the news for the ‘grand temple’ to which Lord Ram built there with patronage of the ruling regime.
Ballia
On May 27, Deccan Herald reported that a man was held for abducting and raping a 17-year old girl in Ballia district about a month ago. The complaint was registered a month ago with Bairia SHO by the survivor’s brother who had stated that his sister had left for computer classes on April 23 but did not return. Through an informer the police found out that the girl was in Bihar and after conducting a raid the police arrested Ajit Kumar Singh and rescued the girl who alleged that he raped her. Accordingly, a case was registered under IPC sections 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage), 376 (rape) and also provisions of the POCSO Act.
Lakhimpur Kheri
On May 29, Shahjahanpur Police arrested a man for raping a woman and causing her death due to negligence. The 24-year-old main accused, who hails from Lakhimpur Kheri, was allegedly in a live-in relationship with the 21-year-old woman, who belonged to another community, and they were living on rented premises for the last 10 months, reported The Indian Express. The woman was pregnant and the accused had given her pills for abortion which caused severe pains in her abdomen. She was then brought to the hospital by the accused. The woman died due to haemorrhage and infection due to rupture of the fallopian tube, the post mortem report said.
The woman had been transferred to Lakhimpur Kheri for a job and then started living with the accused. However, 3 days ago she told him she was pregnant so he gave her some abortion pills. The man’s nephew was also present when the woman was taken to the hospital and hence he too was arrested by the police. The woman’s family said they were aware she was living in Lakhimpur Kheri for a job but did not know she was living with the accused.
Varanasi
On May 27, a rather disturbing video surfaced online of a girl being physically abused by some men and one of the men, was shooting the video and even posted it online which then soon became viral. The incident is from Varanasi’s Dashashwamedh ghat, when the minor girl was reportedly returning from Ganga Aarti. The accused, Golu Gond, Nanak Patel, Suraj Gond, and Amjad Khan from Pura Raghunathpur village allegedly gang raped her and made this video viral.
The girl, from a village near Sindhora in Basantpura was returning home when the four accused came on bikes and assaulted her around 9 pm. They took her to a school where she was gang raped. The girl narrated her ordeal to her parents when the video reached her cousin. The FIR was field on May 25 at the Phulpur police station on 25 May under Sections 376D (gang rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC, and relevant sections of the POCSO Act and the IT Act, reported The Print.
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