15-yr-old Dalit girl abducted, raped in Etah; two held

Agra: A 15-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly abducted by three men from a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district and raped by one of them before she was thrown on the roadside. Two of the accused have since been arrested.

The alleged crime happened on Saturday night when the girl, a Class 10 student, went outside to fetch water.In her statement to the police, the survivor said, “Around 11 pm, my brother came back home from work, and I served him food. Then I went outside to fetch water. One of the accused gagged my mouth, dragged me and forced me into a loader vehicle.”Although family members rushed out to help, they could not stop the abductors.

The family and their neighbours searched for the girl throughout the night. She was found lying on a road outside the village several hours later on Sunday morning.The girl told her family that one of the accused had raped her, police said, adding that the survivor knew one of the suspects, who is a resident of the same village.On Sunday morning, the girl’s father, accompanied by local residents and members of the Dalit community, reached the police station to lodge a complaint. An FIR was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 138 (abduction), 65(1) (rape), 74 (outraging the modesty of a woman), 351 (criminal intimidation), and 61 (criminal conspiracy), alongside relevant sections of the POCSO Act.

DSP Sankaldeep Kushwah said, “Two of the accused have been arrested. Efforts are underway to nab the third suspect. Further legal proceedings are being initiated, and the medical examination of the survivor has been completed.”(With inputs from Vikas Dubey in Etah)