On September 17, the Ambedkar Nagar police arrested Shahbaz, Arbaz and Faisal in the harassment case, that caused the death of a schoolgirl in a road accident. All the accused have been booked under Sections 302, 354, 298 and 304 of the IPC along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act. The father of the deceased 17-year-old, Sabhajeet Verma, while speaking to the media described how unperturbed the father of two of the arrested accused Shahbaz and Arbaz, was when he learned of the incident and his son’s arrest.
Instead of being ashamed of his son’s deeds, Shahbaz and Arbaz’s father, after the arrest of his sons, purportedly boasted before the villagers that he had more than ten sons and that it didn’t matter if one or two were being tried in court or arrested. Many villagers heard him say this, the 17-year-old deceased girl’s father revealed.
Notably, the father of the deceased had earlier issued a statement to the media in which he had said how these accused used to often harass his daughter on her way to and from school. She had, in fact, complained to her parents about this.
On September 16, the accused on bikes were harassing a schoolgirl on a bicycle and pulled her dupatta, causing her to fall. Another accused came on a speeding motorcycle from behind and ran over her causing her death.
On September 17, Sunday, the three accused attempted to run away from Police personnel. In their fleeing attempt, the accused also tried to snatch weapons from the police personnel, prompting the police personnel to fire shots at them.
In the police encounter, two accused, namely Shahbaz and Faisal, were shot in the legs, while the third accused, Arbaz, broke his leg when he tripped while attempting to flee.
The victim’s friend who was accompanying her when the incident took place, narrated the ordeal. She said that she was returning home from school with her friends. Crying inconsolably, she added that Shahbaz, Faisal, and another boy were chasing her. They were regularly harassing them.
On Friday, one of them pulled her dupatta directly due to which she fell from the bicycle. Moments after that, Faisal ran the bike over her from behind. ‘By the time I reached there, blood was coming from her mouth and she could not say anything’, the friend said. Later, she was declared dead in the hospital.
The tragic incident unfolded in the Hirapur market area which comes under the jurisdiction of the Hanswar police station in Ambedkar Nagar, UP. The victim was a native of Barhi Aidilpur in the Hanswar police station area. The 17-year-old victim was studying at Ramraji Inter College in Haripur.