Class XI Ghaziabad girl dragged into field, gang-raped by 2 boys

GHAZIABAD: A Class XI student of a government college was allegedly waylaid by three boys while she was riding her bicycle home, dragged into a sugarcane field and raped on Wednesday afternoon in Ghaziabad.
One of the suspects, police said, is a minor while another, Zahid (21) is the elder brother of a boy who had been slapped by the girl’s father two months ago for making obscene remarks at her. The third boy was identified as Mohan Pal alias Tinku (19). But though a case has been filed under sections of the POCSO Act and Section 376D of the IPC, police said the girl’s family had made two complaints, prompting them to investigate further before making any arrests.

“She had gone to the market in a neighbouring village located around 1.5km away at 2.30 pm for photocopying notes,” the girl’s father, a tailor by profession, told TOI. “But she could not return right away because of the rain. She started for home around 3.30 pm. Barely 200 metres away from our house, the three boys waylaid her at a desolate spot on the road. They kicked her bicycle and when she fell, two of them covered her mouth with their hands, dragged her inside the cane field, and raped her. The third boy stood guard some distance away.”

He filed a complaint in the evening after his daughter returned home. Police said the girl had undergone a medical exam and the report was awaited. Zahid, who used to work earlier in a battery-manufacturing unit, is unemployed at present. Tinku is an apprentice with a motor mechanic in Loni.

Police sources said around two months ago, the girl had been harassed by Zahid’s younger brother in a lane near their house. Explaining what had happened, the girl’s father said he had sent his daughter to find his bike’s taillight on a road near the house where he had taken a tumble. “She found Zahid’s younger brother standing on the road. He did not let her pass and a quarrel broke out. The boy made some vulgar remarks,” he said. He found the boy after a couple of hours, and slapped him twice to teach him a lesson.

SP (rural) Arvind Maurya said, “We are examining the case and cross-questioning the accused boys as well as the girl’s family members. In the first call that had been made to the police control room, the girl’s family had only alleged harassment. However, they later alleged she had been gangraped. We are investigating if allegations of gang rape were levelled as an afterthought.”