On Sunday, 28 March, a 21-year-old man allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh’s Alirajpur district, following which the villagers publicly paraded both the accused and the survivor by tying them with ropes, police said, PTI reported.
As many as six people – the accused and five villagers – have been reportedly arrested. A video showing the survivor and the accused being tied with ropes, beaten and made to forcibly walk in public in the village amid slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ went viral on social media.
As per the PTI report, a senior police officer said that the 16-year-old girl was rescued by the police. Meanwhile, two cases were registered on the basis of the FIRs lodged by the survivor, Sub-Divisional Officer of Police Dilip Singh Bilwal said.
“One of the cases was registered against the 21-year-old man who has been accused of rape. Another FIR was registered against family members of the girl and villagers for parading her in the village that comes under the jurisdiction of Jobat police station and beating her,” PTI quoted Bilwal as saying.
Bilwal added that the accused was married and has two children. The accused has been booked under sections of the Indian Penal code and under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Regarding the family members and relatives of the survivor, they were booked under sections 294 (obscene act in public places), 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement) and other sections of the IPC, the officer added, PTI reported.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has asked the state police to submit a report on the incident within 24 hours, reported Hindustan Times.
(With inputs from PTI and Hindustan Times)
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