BHOPAL: A 14-year-old girl arrested for killing her newborn in a Madhya Pradesh village 200 km from state capital Bhopal was raped on multiple occasions for eight months by five people, police said on Monday.
The girl was arrested on Sunday on charges of throwing her one-day-old baby into the well. She told the police that her cousin, who first raped her in October last year before forcing her to have sex with his friends, helped her kill the baby. She was produced before the juvenile justice board and sent to a juvenile home.
Her cousin and his four friends including two minors have been arrested for gang rape under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO).
Raghuvansh Bhadoria, superintendent of police, Ashok Nagar, said the police learnt of her gang-rape only after her arrest for murder.
“Two days ago, police recovered a body of a baby girl in a well. During the investigation, police found that a 14-year-old girl gave birth to her and threw her in a well. Police apprehended her under Section 302 (murder) of IPC,” said Raghuvansh Bhadoria.
During her interrogation, the girl broke down and told the police that she was repeatedly raped by the five between October 2020 and May 2021.
{{/usCountry}}During her interrogation, the girl broke down and told the police that she was repeatedly raped by the five between October 2020 and May 2021.
{{/usCountry}}The girl’s mother died three years ago and her father is a migrant labourer.
Bhadoria said the girl was mostly alone at her village house and her 21-year-old cousin was a frequent visitor. In October 2020, he raped her for the first time. “Later, the brother along with his four friends including two minors raped her many times and threatened her with dire consequences,” the senior police officer said, citing the rape survivor’s statement.
One day when she suffered from abdominal pain, she told her cousin that she might be pregnant. He took her to a quack. “The quack confirmed the pregnancy and also gave pills to abort the baby…. She gave birth to a premature baby at home… Later, the main accused helped her in throwing the baby in the well,” the district SP said.
Police are trying to verify if anyone helped her deliver the baby at home. Her medical report has indicated that she may have had medical assistance for the delivery. The cousin has also been charged with the infant’s murder and we are investigating the role of others who helped the girl to deliver the baby, he added.