A 16-year-old girl, who was allegedly gangraped by four men a month ago, died by suicide at a village in Sambhal on Wednesday afternoon over alleged police inaction in the rape case.
The mother of the girl, who is a cook at the village government school, said her daughter was unhappy as the four accused, all belonging to the same village, were not arrested even a month after they were booked for gangrape.
The mother also accused the local police of being hand in glove with the rape accused and alleged that policemen were pressuring her family to withdraw the rape case.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Dinesh Kumar, however, denied the family’s charges against the local police and called them “baseless”.
Following the girl’s death, police arrested the four accused – three of the four accused are brothers and all four are aged between 20 and 24 years old.
“We have arrested all the four accused for suicide abetment,” the Deputy SP said.
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According to the girl’s mother, she had gone to the village school to cook midday meal on Wednesday, leaving her daughter in the house. The woman’s husband had died a few years ago and the girl was her only child. When the woman returned, she found the door of her house locked from inside. After the door was broken with the help of neighbours, they found the girl hanging from the ceiling of the room.
On July 15, police registered a rape FIR against four men on a complaint lodged by the teen girl. Her statement was also recorded before the magistrate and her medical examination also confirmed rape.