Girl 'abducted' from police station in UP was raped over days

AGRA: A 16-year-old girl who mysteriously went missing from a police station in UP’s Etah on August 21, just two days after being “rescued” from her kidnappers, was allegedly raped over days by half a dozen men who took her to various locations in Delhi/NCR. The sordid facts came out on Wednesday.
Police officers investigating the case told TOI that the girl, who was rescued from a two-room accommodation in Gurugram, soon went missing from police custody. Cops had then claimed that the accused — the same men who had kidnapped her before — had taken her away after locking the woman constable at Awagarh police station in the toilet.
A SWAT team of UP Police rescued the girl from Gurugram on August 27 following which her statement was recorded in court. The girl has now said she was kidnapped from the police station
She added that she was taken to multiple locations and raped by several men.
The station house officer, investigating officer and the woman constable at Awagarh police station were suspended after the girl disappeared and a departmental inquiry was ordered against them. A deputy superintendent level officer is investigating the case.
According to the girl’s family, she first went missing on August 14. After three days of frantic search and a police complaint, she was found in a nearby village but her alleged kidnapper managed to flee, said police. The girl’s family has claimed that a man called Luv Kush wanted to marry her but she had rejected his advances following which he kidnapped her.
On August 21, a medical examination of the girl was conducted but she went missing from the police station just before she was to be taken to the magistrate to record a statement.
Based on the girl’s complaint, 12 people have been arrested and a chargesheet will be filed once investigation is complete, said superintendent of police (crime) Rahul Kumar. “The main accused, a 20-year-old man called Luv Kush, formerly employed in a private company in Gurugram, has been held.”
The accused have been booked under sections of the Pocso Act and IPC sections 364 (kidnapping for murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) among others, said Vijay Pratap, the new station house officer (SHO) of Awagarh.
According to child rights activists, police officers were in violation of the guidelines of the women and child development ministry which state that minor girls cannot be brought to the police station. “After being rescued, she should have been sent to the one-stop centre (Asha Jyoti Kendra) for girls and women in distress. After counselling at the centre, the girl should have been produced before the child welfare committee. There is a need for the police department to update staff about rules and regulations to be followed in cases related to minors.”
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)