BAREILLY: Draped tightly in a red dress and trying in vain to hide a sizeable burn injury on her right arm, a 16-year-old Class X girl in Moradabad on Friday morning asserted that she was kept as a surety, raped by several men of an influential family for a week and then married off to a man twice her age. Flanked by her nervous parents and facing media persons, the minor also claimed that her earlier statement that “she wasn’t raped” was given under “duress” and also that her medical examination is yet to be conducted.
The girl’s father had earlier alleged that she was held hostage over days and raped repeatedly in front of him and his wife by eight men who wanted “revenge” because her elder brother had eloped with a woman of their family.
Local police, acting on the man’s compliant, had booked eight members of the family for gang-rape and abduction. But later they claimed that the girl had denied being raped. Police also claimed that the minor had also told the court that she wasn’t sexually assaulted.
Soon after the Hathras gang-rape case, the Centre had issued an advisory, saying that a medical examination “must be conducted by a qualified medical professional within 24 hours of receipt of information of rape”.
It has been alleged that the girl and her parents were brought to a house near Amroha railway station by their “influential” neighbours on the pretext of searching for the missing couple on June 28 -- a day after the elopement. They were held hostage there and the girl was allegedly gang-raped by the accused. On June 29, the parents were told to leave with a warning that the girl would be killed if they approached the police. The minor was let off on July 6.
For the 48 hours she was in “police custody”, a period during which she was also taken for medical examination which was denied by the government hospital as her parents were not with her.
Chief medical superintendent (CMS) of Moradabad district hospital Dr Sunita Gautam said that the minor was brought to them by police without any guardian accompanying her. “So we didn’t conduct the medical examination and sent them back to come with the girl’s parents,” the CMS said on record.
When contacted, senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Moradabad, Pawan Kumar, told TOI, “The external medical examination of the girl was done. But she refused the internal medico-legal examination. There was only an abrasion on her elbow. We are not under any pressure and impartial investigation has been done in this case so far.”
He added, “The girl is a minor and her brother eloped with a woman who lived in the same village. Both the families went to Amroha searching for the couple where they fixed the marriage of a minor girl with the brother of the woman who eloped. The girl returned with one of the accused named in the FIR and said that she was never raped and stayed in Amroha as her father asked her to do so. She gave the same statement in front of a magistrate as well.”
The father, meanwhile, maintained that he never asked the girl to stay in Amroha and that the police weren't allowing him to meet her. On Wednesday, the girl was sent to Nari Niketan. And on Thursday, she was allowed to go home with parents, who called the media home the next morning.
While narrating her ordeal, the girl said, “I was kept at the house of one Trilok in Amroha where I was repeatedly raped and forcefully married to Vivek. Vivek’s uncle Pintu burnt my hand and threatened to kill me. After seven days I was brought to Moradabad where I was taken to the house of a former village head. Later I was taken to a police outpost where a policeman threatened to send me to jail. There were two stars in his uniform.”
She further said, “I was very scared and recorded my statement in the favour of the accused. I wanted to meet my parents but they were not allowed to come near me.”
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
