After the clash, the jawan and his family locked up their homes and left the village. (Representational)
A VILLAGE in Bareilly district turned tense as two families clashed Sunday, a day after a minor girl was allegedly raped by a 23-year-old Army jawan, police said. After the clash, the jawan and his family locked up their homes and left the village.
On the basis of a police complaint filed by the minor’s mother, an FIR was lodged against the jawan under IPC sections 376 (rape), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused’s father, younger brother and other relatives were also booked under the same IPC sections except rape.
No arrests have been made yet.
“A police team conducted raids at the houses of the accused and his uncle, but both were foun
d locked. They escaped. The accused, who is a jawan in the Indian Army, had returned home four days ago as his marriage was fixed for June 22. No one in the village has information about where he is presently posted,” said Station House Officer (SHO)of the local police station, Umesh Singh.
According to the SHO, the complaint stated that the 15-year-old girl had gone to the fields on Saturday afternoon when the jawan allegedly caught hold of her, dragged her to another field and raped her. When the girl did not return home for a long time, her family began to search for her.
“The victim’s mother claimed they saw the accused coming out of a field which is around 350 metres from girl’s house. While the accused ran towards his house, the family members went to the field to find the girl crying. They brought her home and she told them about the assault,” the SHO added.
The girl’s mother then told police that she and her son then went to confront the accused at his home. “She alleged that when she told his parents about the matter they started hurling abuses and claimed that she was levelling false allegations. When she resisted, they started pelting stones at her and also threatened her with dire consequences,” said the SHO.
Local residents later intervened and pacified both groups. On Sunday, the mother filed a police complaint.
On Monday, a medical examination of the victim was conducted and the report is awaited. Meanwhile, police personnel have been deployed in the village.
The SHO said that during interrogation, a few villagers had told police that the jawan and the alleged victim had been in a relationship for over a year, a claim her mother had denied.
Banne Khan, the village head, said, “The girl’s family has framed the jawan in a false case to extort money. Everyone in the village knows that the allegations are false. We never heard of the love affair. We have told police that the allegations appear to be false.”
Khan said the jawan had joined the army around four years ago.