Arrest of rape survivor's mom in Chattisgarh town sparks protests, bandh

RAIPUR: A police station in-charge in Ratanpur town of Chhattisgarh, some 150 km from state capital Raipur, was taken off active duty (line attached) on Sunday after tension and protests following a total bandh against police for arresting the mother of a rape survivor on a counter FIR filed by relatives of accused.
The protestors alleged that the rape survivor and her mother were threatened to withdraw the case by the accused, who are influential people in the area. When the survivor did not budge, the accused lodged a false case of sexual abuse of a minor against the mother of the survivor. Police promptly arrested the woman and sent her to jail.
The rape accused is the nephew of a local corporator and protestors raised slogans against the police, accusing them of harassing the woman and "dancing to the tunes of influential people".
"I have line attached Ratanpur station house office Krishnakant Singh till further order keeping in mind the seriousness of the case, so that an unbiased inquiry is ensured," the SP Bilaspur, Santosh Singh, told TOI.
"Also, a three-member committee has been constituted to probe the incident and submit a report within seven days. Additional superintendent of police (rural) Rahul Dev Sharma, SDOP Siddharth Baghel and inspector Parivesh Tiwari will probe the case, Singh said. On March 4, the rape accused took the girl for a walk and allegedly raped her. tnn