A 66-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a nine-year-old girl in a village in Pilibhit district. The case came to light on Tuesday after the survivor’s father came across a video of the sexual assault that was secretly filmed and circulated by a 28-year-old neighbor. Police termed the act a serious crime and took the accused into custody.
Police said the Class 4 student of a government primary school had gone missing on Sunday afternoon after accompanying her father to the market. SP Sukirti Madhav said the accused allegedly lured the child on some pretext and confined her at his house, from where she was rescued once the video surfaced. The family had initially searched for her without informing police.
Investigation revealed that the girl’s father and the accused, who lived in neighboring villages, were acquainted through goat keeping. SHO Naresh Kumar Tyagi said a case was registered against the accused under BNS section 65 (2) (rape) and sections of the POCSO Act.
SP Madhav said the girl was sent to the district women’s hospital for a medico-legal examination while the accused was produced before a magistrate and sent to jail. He added that an FIR against the man who filmed the video will be lodged once the family submits a complaint.
As the accused belonged to another faith, functionaries of right-wing outfits, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Hindu Mahasabha, gathered at the police station demanding capital punishment and demolition of the accused’s house. Their demands were supported by BJP MLA and minister of state for sugarcane development Sanjay Singh Gangwar. VHP district president Ambarish Mishra and HMS president Pankaj Sharma met district magistrate Gyanendra Singh and submitted letters to chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
When asked whether the accused’s house was built on state-owned land to enforce demolition, Amaria SDM Mayank Goswami declined to comment.
Notably, the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court had criticized the UP government’s punitive bulldozer drives, condemning them as unconstitutional and in violation of due process. The High Court had also questioned whether demolishing structures immediately after registering an FIR constituted a “colourable exercise of executive discretion.”
Meanwhile, the district magistrate and the SP visited the survivor’s house. “We have assured the family of justice and all possible assistance. We will strive for sponsorship of her education at a reputed private institution as she belongs to a poor family,” the DM told TOI.
