In a horrific incident, a 13-year-old in Umaria was gang-raped by nine men in two incidents over 8 days. The minor was gang-raped by nine men over a period of three days after being abducted on January 11. Earlier on January 4, she was raped by three of the nine accused but did not report it to anyone, police have said.
The girl has been recovered by the Umaria police and eight of the nine accused have been arrested, Umaria superintendent of police (SP) Vikas Shahwal told THE WEEK. Though highly traumatized mainly, the girl has no serious physical injuries and has been kept at the district one-stop crisis centre where she is being constantly counselled. Also, plans for her proper rehabilitation are in process, the SP said.
The minor, a student of class 9, was reportedly lured and abducted by two youths—Akash Singh and Rahul Kushwaha—while she had gone for some work in the local market on January 11. They then took her to a nearby forest area and then to a local eatery, where she was raped by seven persons. When she asked to be sent back home the next day, she was allegedly sent with a truck driver who also raped her and left her mid-way. She then hailed another truck, whose driver also raped her, sources said.
Police chief Shahwal told THE WEEK that the family, under the impression that she was with some known people, did not report her missing till the morning of January 12. “We then immediately swung into action as per directives on missing girls under Samman programme and managed to recover her on January 13. She then narrated the crime with her and later also informed that she was earlier raped by three of the accused on January 4 too. We have registered cases under relevant sections and eight of the nine accused have been sent to judicial custody. Our teams are trying to track the remaining accused (one of the truck drivers),” the SP said.
He added that as the family did not seem to be equipped for proper mental and other rehabilitation of the girl, she has been put under the care of trained psychologists and officials of the women and child development department at the one-stop crisis centre.
Among the accused who have been arrested include Paras Soni (the eatery owner), Manu Kewat, Onkar Rai, Itendra Singh, Rajnish Choudhary and Rohit Yadav (truck driver) apart from Rahul and Akash, sources said.
The gang-rape comes as a series of similar horrific sexual violence incidents have been reported in the state during the past week.
On January 11, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched an awareness-cum-safety programme ‘Samman’ (honour) on crime against women in the state.
That very day, a 16-year-old girl was raped and murdered by a 50-year-old shopkeeper in Khandwa, who also tried to dispose of the body with the help of his wife. Just days before, on January 9, a woman in Sidhi was gang-raped and a rod inserted in the private parts in Sidhi district. Another 16-year-old was raped by her neighbour in Sagar district on January 13, while a seven-year-old girl was sexually harassed by a private tutor and his servant in Bhopal also on January 13. On January 12, a 14-year-old was allegedly raped (sexually violated) by three persons in Gwalior.
Madhya Pradesh has been called the ‘rape capital of India’ for several years now, as it consistently reports the highest number of rapes (including rapes of minors) in the country.
According to National Crime Records Bureau statistics, in 2019, 5,822 rapes including 3,337 minor rapes were reported. In 2018, a total of 6,480 rape cases including 3,877 minor rapes were reported in MP while in 2017, 6,526 rapes including 4,030 minor rapes were reported.
