Chhattisgarh: Police lodge FIR two months after gangrape victim killed self

On July 18, the girl was allegedly raped by five men and two men abetted the incident, police said.

More than two months after an 18-year-old girl died by suicide at Kondagaon district in Chhattisgarh, allegedly after she was gangraped, police have registered an FIR and arrested five of the seven accused, two of them minors.

According to police, the 18-year-old died by suicide at her home on July 19.

“She had gone to a neighbouring village to attend her cousin’s wedding, but returned before her parents,” said a police officer.

“According to her friend, she had confided that while at the wedding, some drunk men took her to a forest area and raped her multiple times. She had told her friend that they had threatened to kill her if she told anyone about it,” the officer said.

“While her parents were still at the wedding, the girl killed herself after her uncle and aunt left for work,” he said.

“Initially, the family did not know why their daughter committed suicide. However, from the girl’s friend, they came to know that she was abducted and raped when she had gone to the wedding,” Bastar IG P Sundarraj said.

On July 18, the girl was allegedly raped by five men and two men abetted the incident, police said. After raping her multiple times, police said, the men took her back to the wedding, from where she left with her friend. While police said her family didn’t inform them, family members said the local thana in-charge had visited them and assured investigation, but no action was taken.

The thana in-charge has now been suspended and a departmental inquiry has been initiated.

On Tuesday, the Kondagaon SP visited the village and the body of the girl was exhumed.

“We have registered an FIR against seven men for kidnapping, gang rape, criminal intimidation and abetment to suicide. All the accused were known to the victim and are residents of nearby villages. Two of the accused are minors and two are on the run,” IG Sundarraj said.

A special committee headed by the additional SP and comprising five officers has been formed to probe the matter.

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