Police have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against 14 people, including relatives of a speech and hearing impaired teen, on charges of beating up a 40-year-old man who allegedly raped the differently-abled minor in Chatra, around 150 Kilometres north of Capital Ranchi, officials involved in the investigation said on Friday.
The development comes on the heels of a review meeting chaired by Director General of Police Kamal Nayan Choubey on mob lynching cases here. Choubey had asked all the police officials across the State to take cases of mob violence seriously and initiate speedy investigation in them.
The 14-year-old girl had taken cattle out for grazing at Kendinagar under Rajpur Police Station on Monday when the man allegedly outraged her modesty, police said. The minor shared her ordeals with her family through sign language later that day. Infuriated over the heinous crime, her relatives and villagers caught hold of the accused and thrashed him black and blue the next day. The severely injured man had to be rushed to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi, where he is still undergoing treatment.
"We have taken the girl's statement and necessary medical tests have also been done. Prima facie, it seems her allegations are right," said Akhilesh B Verior, Superintendent of Police, Chatra.
The accused has been charged under sections of Protection of Children against Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. Meanwhile, police have arrested two of the 14 people involved in thrashing the accused. However, many of them are absconding. "The two men arrested are residents of the same village. They are not directly related to the minor girl," said an official involved in the investigation.
The incident assumes significance as Jharkhand has found itself in the crosshairs of human rights activists and politicians for the rise in the number of mob lynching cases lately. At least 39 cases of mob lynching, including a few in which villagers had beaten men accused of rape to death, are currently under investigation in the State.
Since Tabrez Ansari’s alleged lynching in Saraikela on June 17, the State has witnessed at least five cases of mob lynching. On July 21, at least four elderly members of the tribal community, including a couple, were dragged out of their houses and beaten to death by an enraged mob on charges of practicing witchcraft in the interiors of Gumla district. On August 1, a 40-year-old man was beaten to death by villagers in Dumka’s Chihutiya village on charges of theft.
Chief Minister Raghubar Das recently asserted that those involved in mob lynching incidents will not be spared and the Government
will take strict actions against such offenders. According to figures with the State police, at least 51 people have been convicted in four cases of mob lynching here so far.