A fifth standard student was allegedly kidnapped gang raped on Saturday by five persons, including three minors who also thrashed and threatened the girl’s family in a village in Jharkhand’s Gumla district, around 150 km from capital Ranchi, police said on Wednesday.
The police arrested all the five accused on Monday. Two were sent to jail while two sent to a remand home. “One person, who was injured in a clash between victim and families of the accused, was sent to hospital for treatment,” said officer in-charge of Chainpur police station Sudama Ram said.
The main accused in the crime, Iliyas Minz is also an accused in a murder case and is currently out of jail on bail, police said.
Ram said the medical test of the 14-year-old survivor has been conducted but the result is still awaited. “The girl’s statement under Section 164 of the CrPC will be recorded today. She would also be presented before the child welfare committee today,” he said.
The police officer said the family alleged that the girl was kidnapped by five village youths on Saturday evening and they raped her in turn. “The accused threatened the girl with dire consequences if she opened her mouth before anyone. The girl returned home on Sunday. When her mother repeatedly asked her where she had been the whole night, she narrated her woes,” Ram said.
The survivor’s family approached the Panchayat and a meeting was called to take a decision. “When accused came to know about the proposed meeting, they barged into our house and thrashed us. My wife and 24-year-old elder son were injured badly. The accused were also planning to set our house on fire,” the 50-year-old father of the survivor said.
On Monday, two brothers and an uncle of the survivor went to the accused and thrashed two of them badly with sharp weapons, police said. “The three persons have also been sent to jail on charges of violating laws,” Ram said.
He said police were not informed about the crime till Monday. “The report came to us on Monday night when tension grew between the accused and victim’s families,” he said.
Since the survivor’s village is affected by Maoists, police reached the spot after taking all precautions.
“All the accused were arrested on Monday night and they were sent to jail and remand home on Tuesday,” he said. The police are camping in the village to prevent any untoward incident.
The girl’s father said they were living in fear. “The incident has shocked my daughter. We are contemplating to send her to any NGO for counseling. We are in fear that villagers might humiliate us over the incident,” he said.
