E-Paper
16-year-old girl raped and set on fire in Madhya Pradesh, minister blames ‘porn, perversity’
Madhya Pradesh home minister Bhupendra Singh said pornography and perversity were “responsible” for the rise in such incidents across the country.
A 16-year-old girl died after she was allegedly raped and set ablaze at a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district, triggering a sharp reaction from the opposition Congress.
The incident took place on Thursday evening in Jujharpur village, which falls under Khurai assembly constituency, police said.
The constituency is represented by state home minister Bhupendra Singh, who blamed pornography and “perversity” for such incidents.
State Congress chief Kamal Nath described it as a brutal incident and said “the head of the state”, a reference to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was busy with national politics and the Karnataka elections.
Giving details of the incident, police said Ravi Chadhar, 28, a resident of Jujharpur village, allegedly entered the girl’s house when she was alone and sexually assaulted her.
Chadhar, who has been arrested, allegedly poured kerosene on her and set her afire when she threatened to tell her father about what had happened, said Kamal Singh Thakur, in-charge of the Bandri police station near Sagar.
She died immediately, Thakur said.
He added that the victim’s younger brother who was playing outside saw smoke billowing from the house.
“Her parents were in Bandri (around 25km from Sagar) to attend a function. Her younger brother was playing near the house. The girl’s brother told us that he rushed back home when he saw smoke from the house. He also told us he saw the accused standing near their house,” the officer said.
Slamming the BJP, Kamal Nath said one more innocent life had become a victim of rape
“...Such incidents are shameful for the state,” he said on Twitter.
“Incidents of rape and farmer suicides are on the rise in Madhya Pradesh and the head of the state is busy campaigning in Karnataka and national politics,” he added.
The home minister announced financial help of ₹2 lakh to the family members and assured them of all possible help.
“I am leaving for the residence of the girl... Perversity in society is responsible for the rise in such incidents across the country. To an extent, porn sites are responsible for such incidents. We have shut down 21 such sites and also written to the Centre to take action in this regard,” Singh said.
Singh added that the state government had enacted tough laws to award death penalty for rapists of girls below 12 years of age and fast tracking the investigation and trial for such rape cases.
Chadhar has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
