A case of a 16-year-old girl attempting self-immolation in Kumoan’s Pithoragarh district has come to light. The girl says she took the extreme step as she was being allegedly raped and harassed by an elderly person.
The parents of the girl first tried to hush up the incident but the matter came to light in Haldwani government hospital where she was referred by doctors from Pithoragarh, police said.
According to the police, the girl gave a statement in Haldwani hospital in which she alleged being raped and harassed by a 59-year-old person for a long time. She attempted self immolation on April 30 in Pithoragarh, following which her parents admitted her at the local hospital, claiming she had sustained burn injuries in a fire incident at home while cooking meals.
As she had sustained over 60 % burns was in a critical condition, doctors in Pithoragarh on May 1 referred her to Susheela Tiwari Government Hospital Haldwani . She was finally able to give her statement to police on Wednesday, following which Haldwani police registered a case against the accused elderly person, who works in a government department.
The girl’s father said he lives in Pithoragarh while his daughter lives with her grandmother in Munsyari. He alleged that in Munsyari, there is a 59-year-old man, who sexually harassed her daughter for a long time and threatened her of dire consequences if she told anyone about it.
Fed up with continuous sexual harassment, the girl attempted self-immolation on the night of April 30, she said in her statement to police.
Kashmir Singh, senior sub-inspector at Haldwani police station said a lady Sub-Inspector, who took the girl’s statement, is investigating the case.
“We have registered a case against the accused elderly person under POCSO Act and IPC section 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentionally insulting any person)”, he said.