A 17-year-old girl was raped by a self-proclaimed saint and later she was left on roadside late on Monday in Rewa. The incident allegedly took place in circuit house - a government-run luxury guest house — located at the district headquarters, police said on Tuesday.
The incident came into light a day before Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s scheduled visit to Rewa on Wednesday.
The victim, a student at Government Degree College for Girls (GDC) in Rewa, was allegedly taken to circuit house by one of her friends saying that a person would help her to get good marks in the exam. There, she was forced to consume liquor and was raped.
As per the complaint lodged by the victim, there were five-six people in the room and they were all heavily drunk. “She was beaten up as she resisted and later left with threatening dire consequences, if she tells it to someone. She was taken in a gypsy and was dropped at college squire around 11:30 pm on Monday.” Subsequently, the victim reached the police station at Civil Lines to lodge a complaint.
Additional SP Shiv Kumar Verma said the main accused, Sitaram Das Maharaj alias Samarth Tripathi, is absconding while his accomplice and notorious criminal Vinod Pandey, who booked the room at the circuit house and brought the girl there, has been arrested. Verma said Tripathi was scheduled to speak on spirituality from April 1 in Satna.
“On Monday, Pandey brought the girl from Satna as she was upset due to some personal problem and sought help from him. Pandey took him to the room, where Tripathi and two others consumed alcohol and forced the girl to consume it. Later, all the people including Pandey came out of the room and locked it from outside. Tripathi raped her and later called Pandey to open the gate. Pandey tried to convince the girl not to speak,” said Verma.
The girl’s family later registered a case. Police have booked the accused under the Indian Penal Code’s Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 504 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 328 (hurt by poison), and 376 D (gang rape) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. Police said an inquiry has been ordered to probe who booked the room in the name of a notorious criminal.
Meanwhile, mentioning the incident, the Chief Minister said that the house of those who misbehaved with a girl in Rewa Raj Niwas should be demolished. Goons will be crushed in the state. Collector and SP should not delay in taking action against goons and miscreants.
