The station house officer (SHO) of a police station in Uttar Pradesh's Lalitpur (UP) has been suspended for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl, who was earlier allegedly gangraped by four people and had gone to file a case at the police station, news agency PTI reported.
The police have arrested three of the accused after an FIR was registered against five people, including the SHO, who has been suspended and is presently absconding.
The case has been registered under Pali police station, where the minor was lured by four men and was taken to Bhopal on April 22 and allegedly raped her, news agency ANI reported, adding that she somehow escaped and reached her residence and had gone to the police station to register a complaint. The station in-charge allegedly raped the teenager before handing her over to the Childline Welfare committee, ANI quoted the police as saying.
The NGO approached the superintendent of police, after whose intervention, an FIR was registered on Tuesday.
All the policemen of the Pali police station have also been sent to the police lines, officials told PTI.
Additional director general of police, Kanpur zone, Bhanu Bhaskar said DIG, Jhansi, Jogendra Kumar has been asked to investigate the matter and submit the report within 24 hours.
{{/usCountry}}Additional director general of police, Kanpur zone, Bhanu Bhaskar said DIG, Jhansi, Jogendra Kumar has been asked to investigate the matter and submit the report within 24 hours.
{{/usCountry}}Senior police officials said the FIR was lodged based on the complaint of the victim.
"While the SHO has been suspended, all policemen of Pali police station in Lalitpur have been sent to police lines," Bhaskar said, adding that strict action will be taken against the guilty policemen.
The police also issued a statement, saying, "The FIR was lodged under various sections of the IPC, including 363 (kidnapping), 376 (rape), 376 B (intercourse by public servant with woman in his custody), 120 B (conspiracy), POCSO Act and SC/ST Act."
In Lucknow, ADG (law and order), Prasant Kumar said the DIG has been told to stay in Lalitpur till the case is resolved.
"The police have arrested three accused, while attempts are on to nab others, including the SHO," superintendent of police Nikhil Pathak said.
Hitting out at the Yogi Adityanath government in a series of tweets, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "The incident of gang-rape with a 13-year-old girl in Lalitpur and then rape by a police officer after taking a complaint shows how the real reforms of law and order are being suppressed under the noise of 'bulldozer'. If police stations are not safe for women, where will they go with their complaints."
"Has the UP government seriously thought about increasing the deployment of women in police stations, making them safer for women? The Congress party had in its women's manifesto made many important points for women's security..Today it's Lalitpur...," she said.
To prevent such incidents, serious steps should be taken for women's safety and a women-friendly law system, she added.
The opposition party in the state Samajwadi Party also attacked the Uttar Pradesh government over the incident, asking where should "daughters go" and "whom to trust" in this government.
"The biggest question in the BJP government is whom to trust and whom to not. A minor, who reached the police station to file a rape complaint was raped by the SHO himself.
"Now the CM should say, where should the victim's daughters go? Security of the victim should be ensured and strict action should be taken against those found guilty," the party said in a tweet in Hindi.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is expected to visit Lalitpur to meet the rape survivor's family.