Monday, January 28, 2008

Constable rapes 10-year-old, tribals protest

GIRIDIH: A 10-year-old tribal girl was raped by a cop in a remote village of Giridih districtin Jharkhand leading to protests by hundreds of tribals armed with bows and arrows at a police station. Arvind Kumar, 24, was arrested on Friday and district police chief M L Meena said he would be dismissed from service. The cops were in the village for an anti-Maoist operation.

According to the girl's elder brother, his sister had gone from their village Ganhar to collect firewood at Chandwa, 17 km from Giridih, along with her six-year-old brother when three policemen approached them. "Two of the policemen kept my brother in their custody while the other cop took my sister to the nearby jungle," he said in a complaint to the police. The girl's father had died a few years ago.

He said the three cops later gave Rs 500 to his younger brother and told him not to disclose the incident. When the girl didn't return home even after several hours, her mother went to the jungle with her neighbours and found the girl unconscious.

No comments: