A 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a senior police official when she had gone to file a complaint of a gangrape by four men last month in Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitpur district, the police said.
The accused, Station House Officer Tilakdhari Saroj, was arrested near the Allahabad High Court, Additional Director General of Police Prem Prakash said, according to PTI. He has also been suspended from duty.
All the other officials posted at the police station where the rape allegedly took place have also been removed from duty, according to NDTV. An deputy inspector general will look into the case and submit a report in 24 hours.
The incident came to light during a counselling session of the girl by a non-governmental organisation. A first information report was then registered based on a complaint filed by the girl’s father on Tuesday, NDTV reported.
According to the complaint, the minor was raped by four men – Chandan, Rajbhan, Harishankar and Mahendra Chaurasia – after they had lured the girl and took her to Bhopal on April 22, The Times of India reported. The accused then brought her back to her village and allegedly dropped her outside a police station.
The girl was handed over to her aunt and called to the police station the next day. She was then allegedly raped by Saroj before being sent to the NGO.
Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pathak said that a case has been registered against six people, including Saroj and the minor’s aunt. One person has been arrested.
“The SHO is suspended and he is named criminal [in the first information report] so we have formed teams to arrest him,” Pathak said.
The FIR has been filed under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 376 (gangrape), 376-B (intercourse by public servant with woman in his custody), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 3, 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and Section 3(2)(V) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
However, it is yet to be confirmed whether the girl belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe.
NHRC issues notice to state government
The National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of a media report on the case, and issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary and the state director general of police.
“The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to human rights violation of the victim,” it said.
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