The Lucknow police have arrested a meat seller named Umar Qureshi for threatening and raping a minor girl in his neighbourhood. According to reports, the accused threatened and raped the victim for six months before she got pregnant. He then compelled her to get an abortion done at a private hospital.
The incident, which happened in the Amethi village in Gosaiganj Block in Lucknow, came to the fore on Sunday (May 21), when the girl’s health started to deteriorate after returning home from the hospital. Seeing her lose a lot of blood, the victim’s family members confronted her.
The 8-year-old child told her parents that six months ago, Umar Qureshi lured her to his house by offering her chocolates, where he sexually assaulted her. After that incident, he regularly started calling her home and raping her. When she protested he threatened to kill her.
The minor said that Qureshi use to show her his butcher knife and threaten to murder her if she informed anybody about the rape.
The torture lasted six months until the 8-year-old became pregnant. When Qureshi learned about the pregnancy, he rushed her to a private hospital and forced her to undergo an abortion.
Learning about her ordeal, the victim’s parents went to the Gosaiganj police station and lodged a complaint against Umar Qureshi.
The police sprung to action and arrested the accused. On the orders of Deputy Chief Minister Brijesh Pathak, the police sealed the nursing home where the abortion was done. An FIR was also filed against the hospital authorities.
During the investigation, authorities revealed that the hospital was performing such illegal abortions on a regular basis and was operating without a licence. When the authorities raided the hospital on Sunday night, they discovered several women who had undergone similar abortions. They were transferred to a government hospital, and the authorities closed down the private hospital.