UP: Family of minor rape victim alleges threats by co-accused, says latter being favoured by Jewar police

GREATER NOIDA: Family of a 15-year-old girl who was allegedly abducted from Jewar’s Dayanatpur’s village and raped by two youths in Jewar's Dayanatpur village have alleged threats from the one of the accused in the case whose name has been removed by the Jewar police from the chargesheet filed in the case.
The girl who was in class VIII when she was picked up from her house on the night of April 28 was recovered from Lucknow five days after the incident where she was found staying in a rented accommodation with main accused Amit who is a married man.
The family had alleged that the accused Amit (26) along with his neighbour Pankaj (22) who reside in the neighbourhood of the girl had abducted the girl and taken the girl near some bushes along the Yamuna Expressway and raped her.
“My daughter was picked up by Pankaj who raped her along with Amit and the latter took her to Lucknow. She was recovered from Lucknow five days later where Amit had kept her,” the girl’s father said.
However, the police later removed the name of the accused Pankaj from the chargesheet citing “investigation” and stating that Pankaj involvement was not found in the case.
The girl’s father has however alleged that Pankaj was being “favoured” by the Jewar police especially a female constable by the name of Neelam Chaudhary who is supposed to be getting married to Pankaj’s friend.
“On the night of May 3, when the girl was brought to the police station from Lucknow, Neelam Chaudhary slapped her and told her not to name Pankaj in her statement under CrPC 161. However, later in her statement before the magistrate under CrPC 164, the girl named Pankaj and Amit both. Pankaj was never arrested and his family continues to threaten us,” he said.
He said that Pankaj’s family members including his three brothers, namely, Keshav, Sagar and Kapil, laugh at them and taunt them. “They issue threats to us saying that they will pick up my second daughter too. I have three daughters and we are scared to step out of our home,” he said.
The girl’s father further alleged the Pankaj’s father Suresh holds a clout in the area as he was a “wine supplier.”
The family has alleged that the family of the accused is issuing threats to them claiming that they have links with higher-ups using which his name has been removed from the chargesheet.
The family has shared their ordeal with the Mahila Shakti Samajik Samiti- a NGO which works for women welfare.
Anju Pundhir, secretary of the NGO told TOI that she spoke to the girl who seemed to be very scared.
“We spoke to the girl and found that she was very scared. We would demand that at least proper investigation should be done before removing his name from the chargesheet,” she said.
In a video of the girl, she can be heard saying that Neelam Chaudhary beat her and threatened her not to name Pankaj.
The family has given a complaint to the women’s cell on Thursday.
When contacted, Jewar police however said that the family had a fight with Pankaj’s family some months ago due to which they want to “frame” Pankaj.
Jewar SHO Umesh Bahadur told TOI that Neelam Chaudhary is getting married in Pankaj’s village and merely told the girl why she was naming Pankaj when he was not at fault. “We have called the father of the girl and the girl to the police station and a female constable will be deployed to listen to her problems,” he said.
Additional DCP (law and order) Shraddha Pandey who is currently holding charge of DCP (women’s safety) told TOI that she will inquire into the allegations of any vested interests on part of Neelam Chaudhary.
“So far in our investigation, Pankaj is not found to be involved. The investigation will be based on technical evidence,” she said.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)