Patiala: Auto driver rapes, impregnates 12-year-old; arrested
An FIR under sections 65 (2) and 68 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, has been registered against the accused, police said
An auto-rickshaw driver engaged to take a class five student to school has been arrested for raping and impregnating the 12-year-old girl, Patiala police said on Monday.
Sub-inspector Sukhdev Singh said the accused allegedly raped the girl for over seven months.
“The accused, identified as Shubham Kanojia, 27, has been arrested and sent to judicial custody. The victim is undergoing treatment at Government Rajindra Hospital,” he said.
An FIR under sections 65 (2) and 68 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, has been registered against the accused, the SHO added.
“The victim is being treated at the hospital, and her health condition is said to be stable. We have also seized the auto-rickshaw of the accused. The accused took the victim to an abandoned site after dropping off all the other students,” he said.
As per the complaint filed on March 29, the matter came to the fore when the girl was taken to a doctor for abdominal pain. The doctors found that the victim was five months pregnant.
“The girl then informed her parents about the alleged rape by the accused auto driver. Thereafter, the parents filed a written complaint with the police,” the police added.
As per the FIR, the accused auto-driver used to take the victim to an abandoned plot in the city after dropping off all the school children.
SHO said that girl told the police that the accused had been raping her since August last year.
Former Patiala MP Preneet Kaur demanded the harshest punishment for the accused.
“Deeply shocked and saddened by the horrific rape of a 12-year-old girl from Patiala, impregnated by the rickshaw driver responsible for taking her to school. I demand the harshest and most exemplary punishment for the perpetrator,” the former MP said in a post on X.
