Man accused of raping girl found innocent, days after distraught father ended life
Following the SIT report, sections related to rape and Pocso Act were removed from the FIR, and he was granted bail by the chief judicial magistrate’s court
PRAYAGRAJ A man accused of raping an eight-year-old girl in Lohanda village of Kaushambi recently has been found innocent after an SIT probe revealed that the allegations were false and motivated by personal rivalry, said police.
But for the family of the man, Siddharth Tiwari, it was too late. His father committed suicide last week after all his efforts to convince officials of his son’s innocence failed.
Based on the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) findings, the rape charges against Siddharth were dropped and he was granted bail by court on Monday.
On May 28, a local resident lodged a complaint, alleging that his daughter was sexually assaulted by Siddharth Tiwari, following which the accused was arrested on May 29, said police on Tuesday. Days after Siddharth’s arrest, the incident took a grim turn when his father, Rambabu Tiwari, 50, a farmer, allegedly committed suicide on June 4, after failing in his efforts to prove his son’s innocence.
His death triggered protests in Lohanda and angry locals blocked National Highway 2 on June 5. The protesters scuffled with the police, who used force to disperse the crowd. Later, Rambabu’s last rites were performed amid tight security.
The police formed an SIT led by inspector Dhirendra Singh of Kadadham police station. The team found that Siddharth had only slapped the girl and she was not sexually assaulted. “The complaint was exaggerated due to a personal rivalry,” said SP (Kaushambi) Rajesh Kumar.
Following the SIT report, sections related to rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act were removed from the FIR, and Siddharth was granted bail by the chief judicial magistrate’s court on Monday, the SP said.
Kaushambi district jail superintendent Ajitesh Kumar said after getting the warrant from the court, Siddharth was released from jail around 7pm.
Sirathu CO Awadhesh Vishwakarma said the PAC is camping in the village for security reasons. The force has been increased after the release of the man to ensure peace, he added.
Police said they registered a case against 10 named and 25-30 unidentified people in connection with the highway blockade and took four into custody.
On a complaint by Siddharth’s family, a separate case was registered against five people, including village head Bhoop Narayan Pal, who is absconding. A reward of ₹25,000 was announced for anyone providing information leading to his arrest, said police.
SP Rajesh Kumar said three police officials, including SHO of Saini police station Brijesh Karwariya, Pathrawa police outpost in-charge Alok Rai and investigating officer SI Krishnaswaroop Yadav, had been suspended for negligence in handling the case.
MLA ASSURES ALL HELP TO FAMILY
Sirathu MLA Pallavi Patel met Siddharth Tiwari on Tuesday and expressed sorrow over his father’s death. She said truth always wins, and in this case too, the truth has emerged victorious. She assured that every possible help will be given to the family.
Patel also promised to talk to officials at the government level to take strict action against the police personnel responsible in this case.
BSP TEAM TO MEET THEM ON JUN 12
BSP chief Mayawati has taken the Lohanda village incident seriously and a party delegation will go there on June 12 to meet Siddharth Tiwari’s family, said BSP district president Rakesh Gautam. Apart from party state president Vishwanath Pal, former MLC Gaya Prasad Dinkar, party’s district officials and officials of the three assembly constituencies will also be part of the delegation.
