In yet another horrific incident, three youths have been arrested for sexually harassing a 14-year-old Dalit girl in front of her cousin and recording the shameful act on camera. The incident which had taken place 10 days ago in Karuali, Rajasthan came to light only on Saturday when two video clips, shot by the accused, went viral on social media.
According to the reports, the minor Dalit had gone to a temple located atop a hill with her cousin, when four to five unidentified youths confronted them. The accused thrashed her cousin despite the minor girl begging her attackers to let them go. One of the youths took out his mobile phone and began recording the entire incident while one of the accused sexually harassed the girl by removing dupatta and asked her to undress.
The horrific video was soon shared on social media which caused a flutter resulting in Rajasthan police taking cognizance of the offence. The police took notice of the video clips and SHOs were directed to identify the place of crime and track down the girl.
Later, the Rajasthan Police arrested three accused who sexually harassed the Dalit minor girl. DIG (Bharatpur) Lakshman Gaur said that an FIR was registered and the girl’s statements have been recorded. “Three accused visible in the video clip have been arrested by Karauli police. We are interrogating them in order to find the whereabouts of other suspects,” he said
An FIR under Section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation), 354B (Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) of the IPC, IT (Information Technology) Act, SC/ST Prevention of atrocities act, and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO).
Karauli SP Anil Beniwal said that all the three were picked up from Kotey Manchari village near Kaila Devi temple in Karauli. Another police official stated that initially, the victim girl had not come forward to state that she was raped as she feared the accused may upload the video online.
The Karauli incident appeared similar to the horrific case of gang-rape reported from Kausambi recently. In a deplorable incident, on 21st September, a 15-year-old minor Dalit girl was allegedly gang-raped and filmed by three men in Ghosia village of Kaushambi district that falls under Saray Akil police station, near Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
Three accused, Mohammad Adil alias Chhotka alias ‘Aatankwadi’, Mohammad Adik alias ‘Badka’, and Mohammad Nazim, were soon arrested. In a video of the gang-rape that has gone viral, the girl can reportedly be heard saying, “Allah ki kasam, mere saath mat karo (for Allah’s sake, don’t do this with me).” Amidst screams and desperate cries, the helpless girl kept begging for mercy but was brutally raped by three men.
In another incident, in Rampur, a Dalit woman was raped at gunpoint in and the video was uploaded on social media. While one accused Abdul was arrested, another Naved was absconding.
We tried reaching the Karauli police station to seek further information on the incident. However, there was no response from the police officials. The story will be updated soon.
