Four booked for gang rape of two minors in Pilibhit

PILIBHIT: Four men were booked on Monday for allegedly raping two minor girls, aged 17 and 15 years, on the orders of the special judge for POCSO Act in Pilibhit.
The two girls were living in a rented room in Pilibhit city as they were studying in a higher secondary school there. The mother of the 17-year-old told the court that on April 3, the four men arrived at the girls’ house when they were alone. The girls let the men in as one of them was known to her father and he inquired about him.
The man took out a box of sweets and offered it to the girls. They initially refused but were virtually forced to consume the sweets, the woman alleged.
After the girls fell unconscious, the four men allegedly took turns to rape them. But before they could flee, she happened to reach the spot and caught the four men red-handed, she claimed.
The woman said she filed a written complaint at the local police station the same day but no action was taken. She sent another complaint by registered post to the SP’s office but to no avail. After making several rounds of the police station, she moved the court. Balveer Singh, SHO of the police station concerned, said that the four named accused were booked under IPC section 376-D (gang rape), 452 (house trespass), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 328 (causing hurt by means of poison etc). Asked why sections of the POCSO Act were not included in the FIR, he said the “mistake” would be rectified.
(The victims' identities have not been revealed to protect their privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)