Another minor girl raped as crime against women spikes in Madhya Pradesh

The latest incident came to the light amid protests over lack of women’s safety in the state

Updated on: Nov 3, 2017, 23:47:15 IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | By Neeraj Santoshi

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A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped on Wednesday in Madhya Pradesh, which is witnessing protests over lack of women’s safety after a daughter of a Railway Protection Force officer was sexually assaulted barely 200 metres from a police station in the state capital.

According to a recent government data, 11 women were raped daily on an average in Madhya Pradesh last year. (HT photo for representational purpose)

Police on Friday said the latest incident came to the light after parents of the minor girl filed a complaint at Kotwali police station in Agar Malwa district.

Avinash Shrivastava , in-charge Kotwali police station in Agar Malwa told HT that a 19-year old youth along with his two friends lured a minor girl to the house of one of the friends.

“The youth raped the minor girl while other two friends stood guard. The house belonged to one of the friends, who is also a minor. There was no one else in the house as the parents of the youth had gone on a pilgrimage”, he said.

Shrivastava said parents of the victim initially didn’t lodge any complaint “because of some fear or taboo.”

“They approached us on Thursday and filed the complaint. As the case was very sensitive we filed the case against the three under IPC 376 D (gang rape) . We have arrested all the three accused”, he said.

On Tuesday, 19-year-old daughter of the RPF officer was allegedly gang-raped by four rag pickers in Bhopal, once again exposing the state’s poor track record on women safety.

Data submitted in the state legislative assembly in February this year shows 11 women were raped every day and six gang-raped took place almost every week in the state between February 1, 2016, and mid-February 2017. Most of the victims were minor.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the hearing in the gang rape of 19-year old would be conducted in a fast-track court and that action would be taken against police officials for initially refusing to register her complaint.

Officers in charge of MP Nagar, Habibganj and GRP police stations have been suspended for the delay in registering the case even after the family of the woman approached them to lodge a complaint.

The city superintendent of police in the area has also been transferred.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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