Cop held for pocketing rape compensation

“An FIR was lodged under sections 420 and 406 of the IPC and he was arrested from Hapur, where he had been posted. He has now been sent to jail.”

A 30-year-old police constable has been arrested for siphoning Rs 3 lakh government compensation meant for a two-year-old girl who was raped in 2016. Police said the rape case was lodged at Vijay Nagar police station in January 2016. The girl’s mother, originally a resident of Gorakhpur, had been living in Ghaziabad for over a decade and worked as a domestic help.

After the incident, police filed an FIR under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC and sections of the POCSO Act. The accused was eventually arrested and the district administration announced a compensation of Rs 3 lakh, under the state government’s ‘Rani Laxmi Bai Yojana’.

However, nobody in the girl’s family had requisite documents to avail it. During this time, police said, the girl’s mother met the accused, Adil Khan, posted as a constable at Vijay Nagar police station. “It seems like Khan knew that since the victim was a minor, the compensation account would have to be opened in the mother’s name,” police said.

Manisha Singh, deputy superintendent of police, said, “The mother was illiterate and Khan took advantage of this. He said he would help her open an account and assist her with the other steps.” Police said that prior to compensation being handed out, the district magistrate and chief medical officer verify case details and send a report to the state government.

The compensation amount of Rs 3 lakh was transferred to the mother’s account on August 9, 2017, said police. “But from August 10 to September 3, the accused withdrew the entire sum, taking out Rs 10,000 or more every day,” Singh said.

A week ago, the mother realised the funds had been siphoned off and lodged a complaint. “The case reached me four-five days ago. An FIR was lodged under sections 420 and 406 of the IPC and he was arrested from Hapur, where he had been posted. He has now been sent to jail.”