A village falling under Purandarpur police station region in Uttar Pradesh’s Maharajganj district has come under focus after a village pradhan has been accused of raping a minor girl.
As per reports, the minor victim was sitting in the balcony of her house on Wednesday while the pradhan named Akhtar Khan was passing through the area. Allegedly seeing her alone he grabbed her and tried to muffle her screams. Following this he took her to a room and after tying her up allegedly proceeded to rape her.
Reports have claimed that Akhtar also threatened to kill the girl who supposedly belongs to a backward caste, and fled the scene after committing the crime. Later the girl was rushed to a community clinic after being discovered. The doctors at the clinic later referred her to a district hospital. As per the police, the girl’s condition was dire with her repeatedly losing consciousness. Her state though has reportedly improved since then, and is being considered stable.
Reports have claimed that the parents of the girl were out of the house at the time of the crime and the neighbours supposedly saw Akhtar fleeing from the house.
After being notified of the incident, Superintendent of police – RP Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police – Ashutosh Shukla and Circle Officer Gaurav Tiwari reached the spot and pacified the irate villagers by promising Akhtar’s arrest.
Later based on a complaint filed by the victim’s mother, the police booked Akhtar under the POCSO act and sections reserved for rape. A five member team was also constituted for his arrest. Following this, the team raided various locations and finally arrested Akhtar at about 8 PM on Wednesday.
With the incident involving two communities, the police has deputed a strong force after fearing communal tension gripping the village. The deployment also includes senior police officers camping in the village.