5 arrested after minor rape victim kills self in U.P.

Class IX student named the accused.

A day after a 15-year-old gang-rape victim from Baghpat committed suicide, the police on Sunday arrested all five accused named by the victim. The Class IX student was gang-raped in July. She was threatened and harassed by the alleged rapists at a market on Saturday, after which she returned home and hanged herself from a ceiling fan.

The culprits had earlier been given a clean chit by the police.

Uproar and protests

The suicide led to a huge uproar and protests in the district, after which the police acted. The Investigating Officer in the case was suspended by the Baghpat Superintendent of Police.

According to the parents of the victim, the accusedhad threatened to rape the girl again if she complained to police.

“The fact that police did not take any action in the rape case we filed in July emboldened the accused. We had complained to the police, registered an FIR and named the accused as well. But the police closed the case saying there was not sufficient evidence. Why would my daughter kill herself if she was lying?” asked the grieving father of the victim, a resident of the Kirthal village in the Ramala area of Baghpat.

“We probed the case and concluded that they should be arrested. We will present them in the court. The investigating officer who closed the case due to insufficient evidence has been suspended,” said Jai Prakash, the Superintendent of Police.