A 15-year-old gangrape victim committed suicide by hanging in Baghpat near Meerut, UP on Friday October 13 after she allegedly faced repeated threats from her rapists who were given a clean chit by the police.
The girl, a class IX student, was allegedly raped by five youths of her village on June 28 2017. The girl had stopped going to school fearing that she might get raped again, according to a TOI report.
The victim's parents had reportedly named the five culprits in their complaint to police. But the police absolved the youths of the crime allegedly due to the pressure from their influential families.
Victim's mother recalled the fateful day when her daughter faced the harrowing experience, "I cannot forget that day. It was June 28. She left home to go to a nearby market. On the way, the five youths, residents of our village, pulled her inside their car, took her to an isolated spot and took turns to rape her. Later, they threw her on the road."
"We approached police for help and even named the youths in the FIR. My daughter also underwent a medical examination and recorded her statement in front of the magistrate. But later we were compelled to not pursue the matter any further," the minor's mother told TOI.
She further adds, "Police took their side and cited inconclusive evidence to close the case. We are poor and could not do anything to get justice for our daughter."
The police denied all the allegations of the victim's family and cited a delay in reporting the rape as a reason for not taking action against the culprits.
"There were several loopholes in the case. The crime was reportedly committed on June 28, but a complaint was registered only on July 8," said a police official who earlier investigated the case.
"The girl's medical examination could not confirm rape and she changed her statement in front of the magistrate. We checked mobile phones of the five youths to find out about their location at the time of the crime and saw that all of them were in the village," he added.
Meanwhile, police has filed a fresh FIR in this case and has launched further investigation. "We have filed an FIR against them. We are conducting an inquiry into the cause of suicide and are also in the process of getting details of the earlier case registered against the accused," Ramala police station house officer (SHO)- Virender Singh said.
