Dalit girl gang-raped on way to school in UP’s Sultanpur, 15-yr-old among 3 accused

Sultanpur: A 14-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped by three youths, including a minor, when she was on her way to school here, police said on Saturday.

According to police, the incident occurred on Friday morning when the survivor, a student of Class X, was on her way to school. The 15-year-old accused, sitting in a car, met her and made her sit in the vehicle under the pretext of dropping her off at school.

However, they then drove her around and mid-way two other accused, Pradeep (18) and Saurabh (18), boarded the vehicle and took her to a room where they tied and gagged her, and raped her, police said.

When she regained consciousness, after about an hour, the accused had fled. She then called for help. The rape survivor first informed her aunt about the incident who informed her other family members.

Based on the mother’s complaint, a case was registered against the accused under sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 70(1) (gang rape) and 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, POCSO Act, and Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The police arrested two accused and detained the third on Friday. The arrested accused were sent to judicial custody for 14 days and the minor was sent to juvenile home, Additional Superintendent of Police Akhand Pratap Singh said.

During the investigation, the police found that one of the accused had contacted the girl on Instagram, a day before the incident. He asked her to meet him but she refused.