Chatra gangrape case: Jharkhand police arrest 14 people after minor girl rape
Jharkhand : The Jharkhand Police on Saturday arrested 14 of the 18 people accused in connection with the alleged gang-rape and burning alive of a 16-year-old girl at Raja Kendua village in Chatra district on Friday. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act has been called upon against the rape accused as the victim was a minor.
“Gang-rape charges have been invoked against the accused, but we will wait for the post-mortem report before arriving at any conclusion,” said Bokaro range inspector general of police Shambhu Thakur.
The district administration has formed a medical board for carrying out an autopsy of the half-burnt body, he added.
The local panchayat team had asked a penalty of Rs 50,000 on the accused for allegedly raping the girl on Friday afternoon. Enraged by the order, the main accused, Dhanu Bhuiyan and his companions allegedly immolated the victim and brutally assaulted her family.
Village mukhiya Tileshwari Devi and panchayat samiti member Ranjay Rajak are among those arrested, said Thakur. The two accused were booked on charges of passing illegal orders and interfering with evidence.
However, Dhanu Bhuiyan has escaped himself from the village. “Raids are being conducted to nab him and others at the earliest. We are also probing the role of other locals in the incident,” the inspector general said.
Detailed security arrangements have been made at Raja Kendua village, under the Itkhori police station, to prevent any annoying incident. Senior civil and police officers visited the village to meet the victim’s family members on Saturday, hours after the chief minister ordered strict action against the offenders.
“A manhunt is on to nab four others, who are absconding,” said Thakur, adding that the victim’s family has been accorded protection.
Chatra deputy commissioner Jitendra Singh also met the minor family members and handed them a cheque of Rs 1 lakh as financial help. Chatra superintendent of police Akhilesh B Verior has been camping in the village ever since the gang rape took place.
