7-year-old girl raped, abandoned on farm in Madhya Pradesh

A seven-year-old girl was abducted, raped and left abandoned in a farm in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Tuesday.

Updated on: Jan 17, 2024, 07:34:15 IST

By Shruti Tomar, Anupam Pateriya, Bhopal

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A seven-year-old girl was abducted, raped and left abandoned in a farm in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Tuesday, adding that a 45-year-old man has been arrested in the case. The survivor’s family alleged the local police delayed registering an FIR and the government health centre they went to denied them treatment.

“The accused, Gulab Kumar, was arrested on Tuesday under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. He is a resident of Jhansi and was living with his sister in the village of the survivor. He has confessed that he raped the girl in an agricultural field after abducting her,” superintendent of police, Chhatarpur, Amit Sanghi said.

According to the complaint registered by the survivor’s family, the child was reported missing on Monday afternoon.

“We found her bleeding on a farm after seven hours at around 7pm. We went to the sub-health centre for the treatment but only a maid was present there due to Makar Sankranti. We requested them to call the doctors and nurses, but no one came,” the girl’s father alleged, adding that they took the girl to the district hospital in Chhatarpur, located 25 km from the village, in a private vehicle.

The Chief medical officer of the sub-health centre, Lakhan Tiwari, refuted the allegations. “The staff members and ambulance were called at the health centre immediately after receiving the information but the family members didn’t wait...” Tiwari said.

The girl’s father also alleged that they were made to wait at the Satai police station, where they went to lodge an FIR. The police, however, said: “There were no female personnel present at the time so we asked them to wait...”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
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.Read More

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