Two days after a 16-year-old gangrape victim died by suicide in a Sambhal village, police claimed they have arrested all the four accused, while the investigating officer (IO) and the SHO concerned have been suspended for negligence.
The girl was found hanging by her mother at their house on Wednesday. The father of the victim had died in 2015.
The mother of the girl accused the police of negligence, claiming that only one of the four accused was booked initially in the FIR registered on July 15. According to the FIR, the alleged crime took place on June 5 and only one accused – Souvendra — was booked for rape, trespass, kidnapping, criminal intimidation, and under the POCSO Act.
“I don’t care if all the four accused have been arrested now. Why didn’t the police do this on July 15? I lost my daughter because the police didn’t do anything. The accused were roaming freely and would call and threaten to kill my daughter. They were never absconding. Had they been on the run, how did the police catch them right after my daughter died?” said the victim’s mother.
“I met the SHO as well but he asked us to settle the matter. How can I settle the matter? My daughter was gangraped and threatened,” said the mother.
She alleged that they had named all the accused but the police booked only one. On July 24, the matter reached a court where the minor told the judge that she was gangraped by four men, after which the names of three others — Veeresh, Vipin, Jeenesh — were added to the FIR.
A second FIR for abetment to suicide was lodged on Wednesday after the girl died. “Since the FIR was lodged on July 15, the accused were pressuring my sister and our family to withdraw the case. Police kept pushing us to cremate the body even as we were expecting relatives. Policemen were standing behind us,” said one of the brothers of the victim.
Sambhal SP Chakresh Mishra said, “The FIR was immediately registered. Later, the complainant named 3 other accused in a court. We added their names to the FIR, but they were absconding. We are verifying the threat allegations. There was no pressure for cremation… The policemen were standing far away.”