16-year-old dalit girl gang-raped in public toilet in UP’s Etah

By TNN

AGRA: A 16-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly gang-raped in a public toilet in UP’s Etah by three people from her village, including a former village pradhan. While the incident happened on Monday, the FIR was registered only two days later, on Wednesday, as the minor’s family was allegedly turned away by the police station where they tried to register a complaint.

According to the family, the FIR was registered against three people only after they managed to approach district magistrate Sukhlal Bharti during the Tehsil Diwas — a bimonthly affair when senior officers address grievances of the public in each tehsil — and he intervened in the matter.

The girl’s mother in her statement said the teenager had gone to a public toilet to accompany her six-year-old brother when she was raped. The FIR named former village head Rajiv, 50, and his two acquaintances Akash, 18, and Anil Kumar, 22. They also allegedly threatened to kill the girl if she complained about the incident.

The former pradhan is on the run but the other two accused were arrested on Wednesday, said additional superintendent of police Om Prakash Singh.

When asked about the delay in lodging an FIR in the matter, Aliganj police station house officer, Pankaj Kumar Mishra claimed they had not received any complaint from the family. “We received the complaint on Wednesday and registered a case against the three men under 376 D (punishment for gangrape), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and the SC/ST Act”.

Circle officer (Aliganj) Ajay Kumar said the girl was sent for a medical examination at the district hospital. “We will add sections of Pocso Act to the FIR once the girl’s age is determined since we don’t have any valid documents that mention her age as of now,” he said.

(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)

This story first appeared on  timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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