Four persons, including a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper and the son of a retired jailor, have been arrested for allegedly abducting a Class 10 student in a car, which had a police logo painted on it, and gang-raping her at a deserted place in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur, the police said on Tuesday.
A case has been registered for kidnapping and gang rape, and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, said Deviver Shukla, the inspector of Halia police station. All the four accused have been arrested and are likely to be presented before a magistrate on Wednesday, police said.
The girl, 15, was allegedly assaulted on Monday at an isolated place in Halia, which is 50 km off district headquarters Mirzapur. The incident comes amid a nationwide outrage over several cases of crimes against children and women over the past week, including the gang rape and brutal killing of a 26-year-old veterinarian from Hyderabad by four men on November 28.
The police officer said one of the arrested persons, Jai Prakash Maurya, is the son of retired jailor, Brijlal Maurya. Jai Prakash’s sister had settled in a village in Halia after marriage and he had been visiting her house several times in the last few months during which he befriended the teenager, according to the police.
Police said that survivor’s father alleged on Monday that Jai Prakash made a call to the girl on her mobile and asked her to step out and meet him at a spot on the outskirts of the village where he was present along with his three friends in a car.
Jai Prakash then forcibly took her to an isolated location, where all four allegedly raped her, police said.
The car, in which the girl and all four persons were travelling, was intercepted by policemen on duty for checking while it was on its way to the girl’s village in Halia. The car belongs to Jai Prakash Mauya, an official said, adding probe is on to find out how he got a police logo painted on it.
As the car stopped, the girl started crying, raising an alarm. The policeman on duty took the four men and the girl to the police station.
Police said the girl narrated her ordeal to her father after which he registered a case against all four persons — Jai Prakash, Luv Kumar Pal, Ganesh Prasad and CRPF constable Mahendra Kumar Yadav, who is posted in Sultanpur.
Superintendent of police, Mirzapur, Dharm Veer, said all four accused have been sent for medical examination.
