SHO arrested for sexually assaulting gang-rape survivor in UP

A Station House Officer was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl who was left outside his police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitpur by four men after they raped her for three days, officials said on Wednesday.

The SHO was arrested from an area near the Allahabad High Court, they said, adding that five others, including the girl’s aunt and the four men who had lured her to Bhopal and raped her, have been arrested. All the other policemen of the Pali station in Lalitpur district have been taken away from active duty and sent to police lines.

Police sources said the girl was lured to Bhopal, about 240 km from Lalitpur, by four men who allegedly raped her for three days and then left her near the police station. SHO Tilakdhari Saroj handed the victim over to her aunt but later on the pretext of recording her statement, called her again to the police station and allegedly raped her on its premises, they said.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Jhansi, Jogendra Kumar has been asked to probe the matter and submit the report within 24 hours, officials said.

The DIG has been told to stay in Lalitpur till the case is solved, ADG (Law and Order) Prasant Kumar said in Lucknow.

The National Human Rights Commission also issued notices to UP chief secretary and the Director General of Police and asked them to submit a report in this regard within four weeks.

A senior police official said since the SHO was absconding, first a man close to him was arrested and following his intense questioning, the accused officer was nabbed. As chilling details of the case came to light, the opposition Samajwadi Party, BSP and the Congress highlighted the vulnerability of women and asked where they should go to file their complaint and whom should they trust.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav also visited Lalitpur and met the rape survivor at the district hospital.

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, however, said strict action will be taken and the stringent National Security Act will be slapped against the accused.

The parents of the victim are labourers. The mother of the multiple-rape survivor also alleged that her daughter was taken to Bhopal by four men and raped there for three days after which they left her near the Pali police station, where she was again sexually attacked.

The girl narrated her ordeal during counselling at an NGO, which approached the superintendent of police. Following his intervention, an FIR was registered on Tuesday.

Hitting out at the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government over the incident, Samajwadi Party said in a tweet in Hindi, ”The biggest question in the BJP government is whom to trust and whom to not. A minor who reached the police station to file rape complaint was raped by the SHO himself.

”Now the CM should say, where should the victim daughters go? Security of the victim should be ensured and strict action should be taken against those found guilty.” Hitting out at the state government in a series of tweets, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, ”The incident of gangrape with a 13-year-old girl in Lalitpur and then rape by a police officer after taking a complaint shows how the real reforms of law and order are being suppressed under the noise of ”bulldozer”.

If police stations are not safe for women, where will they go with their complaints?” ”Has the UP government seriously thought about increasing the deployment of women in police stations, making them safer for women? The Congress party had in its women’s manifesto made many important points for women security..Today its Lalitpur…”, she said. To prevent such incidents, serious steps should be taken for women’s safety and a women friendly law system, she added.

BSP supremo Mayawati in a tweet said, ”The incident of gang-rape of a minor girl by the police at Pali police station in Lalitpur is very shameful. The government should take this matter seriously and take strict action against the culprits, this is the demand of the BSP.” RLD national secretary Anil Dubey termed the incident ”a blot” on the state police and demanded dismissal of all the policemen involved besides lodging of case and ensuring justice through a fast track court.

Meanwhile, Pathal told reporters in Lucknow that the matter will be taken up in a fast track court. ”The action will be so strict against the policemen involved that even their next generations will cry out in pain. The NSA will also be invoked against them and no one will be spared,” Pathak said. Asked about politics being played over the case, Pathak said, ”I want to ask the opposition not to politicise criminal matters. She (victim) is our daughter and if wrong was done against her, the government is committed to take action and will not spare anyone at any cost.” On Akhilesh Yadav’s visit to Lalitpur, Pathak mockingly said, ”He (Yadav) thinks if something happens, he can start his political tourism”.

Asked about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s attack on the government, the deputy chief minister said, ”She should see the condition of women in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.” The police said an FIR was lodged under various sections of the IPC, including 363 (kidnapping), 376 (rape), 376 B (intercourse by public servant with woman in his custody), 120 B (conspiracy), POCSO Act and SC/ST Act.