The father of a minor girl, who was allegedly gang-raped by three persons, died “in an accident” after being hit by a truck a day after she lodged a police complaint in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Wednesday.
The girl’s relatives alleged that he was murdered and accused the police of complicity. The father of one of the accused is allegedly posted as a sub-inspector in Kannauj district.
A case under Sections 376d (a), 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 5G/6 of the POCSO Act was registered at the Sajeti police station. The girl had reached a community health centre in Ghatampur for her medical examination after the FIR, when her father and brother stepped out to drink tea in the morning, said a senior police officer. The girl’s father met with “an accident” by an unidentified truck, said DIG Kanpur Preetinder Singh, adding that a case under accident had been registered.
The minor’s father was taken to a hospital where he died during treatment, said the officer.
The FIR
As per the FIR lodged on March 9, the girl’s father said that on March 8 when his daughter was returning home from the fields around 7 p.m., accused Dipu Yadav and Golu Yadav grabbed her from behind. They covered her eyes and mouth and took her to an isolated place and took turns to repeatedly rape her and threatened to kill her if she made any noise or informed anyone.
The girl managed to return home late at night in a bad state and narrated her ordeal, the FIR stated.
The girl’s family alleged that a day after the incident, when they stepped out of the house to lodge a complaint, Dipu’s brother Saurabh Yadav threatened to kill them if they went ahead and reported the matter to police.
“You should know that my father is a daroga [police inspector]. You can’t do anything to us through police station and police. We will do the bad act [rape] again in front of everyone,” the FIR read, quoting the threat made by Saurabh.
Main accused arrested
Golu Yadav, the main accused in the gang rape case, had been arrested and five teams formed to arrest the remaining two accused, said Mr. Singh.
The girl’s relatives and outraged locals staged a dharna on the road and held up traffic on the Kanpur-Sagar Highway. The girl’s grandfather alleged that his son was murdered in complicity with the police. “Police walo ne marwa dala hai [The police got him killed],” he told journalists.
Mr. Singh said the police were trying to work out both the cases, the alleged gang rape and the death of the girl’s father.
IG Kanpur Mohit Agarwal said directions had been sent to book the accused under the National Security Act and the Gangsters Act. If the accused had illegal property or house or had encroached upon government land, it would be seized or demolished, he said.
An ex-gratia of ₹10 lakh and five bigha of land had been announced for the victim family as compensation, he said.
The State police in a tweet instructed the Kanpur police to swiftly unveil the case of the father’s death on the basis of “evidence” and ensure the arrest of the remaining accused in the gang rape case. “The truck that was involved in the alleged accident be recovered and its driver arrested,” it said.
