The Madhya Pradesh police on Saturday arrested eight people on charges of abducting and gang-raping a 13-year-old girl for three days, officials said.
They were arrested under section 376 (d) (gang rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under relevant section of Protection of Children from Sexual Offence. (AP FILE)
Police have identified the eight accused as residents of Umaria. They are Akash Singh, Rahul Kushwaha, Paras Soni, Manu Kewat, Onkar Rai, Eitendra Singh, Rajnish Choudhary and Rohit Yadav. The police are yet to identify one of the accused.
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They were arrested under section 376 (d) (gang rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under relevant section of Protection of Children from Sexual Offence.
Umaria superintendent of police (SP) Vikas Shahwal said the girl was in trauma and being counselled.
"A Class 9 student, the girl had come to Umaria from Jabalpur to meet her mother on January 10. On January 11, two men, Akash and Rahul, met her in a market. They asked her to join them for a lunch. They took the girl to a forest and raped her," said Shahwal.
"They reached a dhaba where they held her hostage for the whole night. Later, Dhaba owner Paras Soni and four others raped her. The girl requested the accused to allow her to go. The girl was sent to her home in a truck. She shared her trauma with the truck driver, Rohit Yadav, but instead of informing police, the driver raped her. The truck driver left her near a toll plaza on Umaria-Katni road. She flagged down another truck and the unidentified driver too raped her. The girl somehow reached her home on January 13 and informed the police," he added.
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Police are investigating the matter and are on the lookout for the unidentified truck driver.
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Police are investigating the matter and are on the lookout for the unidentified truck driver.
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.
