UP shocker! 13-year-old girl alleges rape by SHO at police station; DIG orders probe

Pic for representational use only

Lalitpur: A 13-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped by four people, was raped again by the Station House Officer (SHO) of a police station in Lalitpur where she had gone to file a case, news agency PTI said on Wednesday.

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 officials said. All the policemen of the Pali police station have also been sent to the police lines, officials said.

Additional Director General of Police, Kanpur Zone, Bhanu Bhaskar said DIG, Jhansi Jogendra Kumar has been asked to probe the matter and submit the report within 24 hours. 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 entrusted with the task to probe the incident has been told to stay in Lalitpur till the case is resolved. The victim's mother alleged that her daughter was taken to Bhopal on April 22 by four men and was raped there for three days. 

The accused left the girl at the Pali police station, where she was allegedly raped by the SHO, she alleged. The girl reached a childline NGO later and narrated the whole incident during counselling.

The NGO approached the Superintendent of Police, after whose intervention, an FIR was registered on Tuesday. "The police have arrested three accused, while attempts are on to nab others, including the SHO," Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pathak said.

The Samajwadi Party attacked the Yogi Adityanath-led 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 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.

न्याय को ही लोगों के दरवाज़े तक नहीं पहुँचना होता है… कभी-कभी न्याय की पुकार के लिए भी लोगों के दरवाज़े तक जाना होता है। pic.twitter.com/m0Ypishxfz

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) May 4, 2022

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is expected to visit Lalitpur to meet the rape survivor's family, the party said in a tweet. 

माननीय राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष श्री अखिलेश यादव जी लखनऊ से 10:30 बजे ललितपुर के लिए हुए रवाना।

थाने में एस.ओ द्वारा दुष्कर्म का शिकार हुई नाबालिग पीड़िता के परिजनों से करेंगे मुलाकात।

— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) May 4, 2022

Attacking the state government in a series of tweets, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "The incident of gangrape 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 station 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 security..Today its Lalitpur...", she said.

To prevent such incidents, serious steps should be taken for women's safety and a women-friendly law system, she added.