On July 7, the district administration demolished the houses of the accused men, for raping a 12-year-old tribal girl. The accused were hired for the mason work at the victim’s house, however, they end up committing this crime.
As many as three accused were involved in this heinous act. The accused men have been identified as 19-year-old Arman alias Battu and two of his supporters Raees (23) and Raees (24).
As per the media reports the incident took place on July 6, at the Badiyakima village of the Khudaul area, near Indore district. The accused men reached the victim’s house for the construction work. They were all cutting pieces of iron rods and it was then they found the victim alone and hence raped her.
The accused Armaan and others took turns in raping the minor victim as she screamed for help. The girl refused and begged them to let her go but the accused showed no mercy.
After mercilessly raping her, the accused threatened to kill her if she told anybody about the incident and then fled the scene. The terrified minor shared her ordeal with her parents, who encouraged her to file a complaint with the Khudaul police station.
A First Information Report (FIR) in this case was registered at the Khudaul police station. Following the complaint and considering the seriousness of the matter the police immediately arrested all the named accused in the FIR. They all have been booked under charges of rape and POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses).
Those booked under POCSO will serve a jail term, upon the first conviction, 5 years of imprisonment will be given. However, upon further convictions, the jail time can go up to 7 years and fine. Use of a child for pornographic purposes while committing an offence under Section 9 of the Act.
Following the rape of the minor, the angry villagers staged a protest and demanded exemplary punishment for the culprits. Notably, as per the Madhya Pradesh Anti-Mafia Act, the district administration can take the decision of demolishing the houses of the culprits held for rape and murder.
In this case, the administration found that the house of the main accused Arman was illegally built on government land and hence a bulldozer drive was initiated. On July 7, with the district administration’s order, the officials razed the house of Arman.
As per the reports, the accused and his family had captured as many as 1.185 hectares of land. The police is tracking details of other accused held in this case as well.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Akshay Singh Markam said, “The main accused Armaan alias Battu along with his two associates both named Raees had gone to cut bars at the victim’s house on July 6. The trio had gang-raped the minor girl after finding her alone at home.”
After that when the police received the information into the matter, they arrested all the three accused involved in the crime on the same day, he added.
Markam further said that the main accused Armaan had built a pucca house by illegally encroaching the government land located in Khudel tehsil in the district which was demolished by the district administration on July 8.
It is noteworthy that a number of such crimes have taken place in the recent past in Indore.
Notably, a deaf and mute girl, living at a shelter home was found six months pregnant. It was only after her pregnancy that the truth was revealed. Vijay Nagar police station in-charge Ravindra Gurjar said, “We received a complaint from the minor’s mother that she and her daughter were called to the institute, where the girl had been staying for the past four years. The director told her that the minor was pregnant. She immediately brought her to the police station.” A case was later registered under sections of the POCSO Act.
