india

Updated: Jun 10, 2019 08:50 IST

Six men dragged a 12-year-old girl out of her home and raped her under Ahrauli police station in Kushinagar district of eastern Uttar Pradesh on Friday evening, the police said on Sunday.

The suspects thrashed the girl’s family members when they tried to save her, the police added.

A first information report was lodged against the six men on Sunday, two days after the incident. Four of the six suspects have been arrested. Two are still on the run. The victim was undergoing treatment in hospital.

Superintendent of police, Kushinagar, RN Mishra said, “A case has been filed under Section 376 (rape), 147( rioting), 354 (assault with intention to outrage modesty), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506(criminal intimidation ), 452 (trespass) of the IPC and POCSO Act against the accused and a manhunt has been launched to arrest the two (remaining) culprits.”

Initially, the FIR did not mention Section 376 (rape). It was added after the local media highlighted the issue.

The suspects, who had a dispute with the girl’s family over a drain, have been identified as Veeru Yadav, Niteesh Kumar, Jaiveer Prasad, Mukhtar Prasad, Chandan Prasad and Gautam Prasad. Mukhtar and Niteesh are on the run.

Veeru and Niteesh had an altercation with the girl’s family over construction of a drain on Friday morning, the police. Locals stepped into pacify the two sides. But the truce was shortlived as Veeru, Niteesh and the four others barged into the girl’s house the same evening and took her away as the family members raised an alarm but were beaten by the suspects. The suspects later raped the girl at another location, the police said.

Citing delay in filing the FIR and inaction against the suspects, the girls’ family members had earlier accused the police of shielding the perpetrators.

The FIR was lodged after the family member met the SP, appealing for justice.