patna

Updated: Jan 16, 2019 17:28 IST

A widow and her teenaged daughter have approached a court in Bhabua after three men allegedly gang raped the minor girl in front of her at a village in Kaimur district in south west Bihar, 220km south west of state capital Patna.

This is the fifth such incident in Bhabua sub division since May 27 last year.

The latest crime allegedly took place in the night of January 10 but the matter came to light on Tuesday when the survivor and her mother approached a court in a Bhabua and filed a case in the court of Special POCSO judge Ram Rang Tiwary.

The girl’s mother also alleged that officers at the women’s police station at Bhabua declined to register a case despite her repeated pleas for three consecutive days. The court was closed from January 12 to 14.

The widow alleged on that ill-fated night, she was sleeping with her 15-year-old daughter at her home, when around 11 pm someone knocked the door. As she opened it, a villager named Shashi Kumar forcibly entered with two associates whom she did not recognise.

They took the girl hostage and threatened to kill the duo if they raised alarm before sexually assaulting the minor girl in the mother’s presence. After committing the crime, they left the house threatening the mother and daughter not to disclose the matter to anyone or inform the police.

The girl said she went to the woman’s police station Bhabua next morning with her mother and reported the matter to the station house officer (SHO). “She gave us a hearing but did not register the case. We went to her for three consecutive days from January 11 to 13 but apparently in collusion with the accused, she refused to register the FIR,” the girl’s mother alleged.

Indu Kumari , the SHO of the police station, denied the allegations. She said the girl came alone to the police station and requested her to force the said accused to marry her. As she was a minor, Kumari asked her to come with her mother or guardian. “She gave three contradictory petitions on three consecutive days forcing police to investigate the truth before registering a case,” the SHO said.

On the mandatory legal provisions in such case for immediately registering a First Information Report (FIR) whenever a minor victim comes with a grievance of a cognizable offence, Kumari said that counselling the minor girl was also her duty.