Within 24 hours of the Chitrakoot incident where a minor Dalit girl ended her life after being gang-raped, another minor fed up with constant teasing and police apathy committed suicide in Pratapgarh on Wednesday.
The 16-year-old girl ended her life by jumping into a well near her home.
The body was sent for autopsy and the police arrested one of the tormentors after a public outcry over the issue.
On Tuesday, three youths had barged into the victim’s house at Puasi village in Baghraya police station area and molested her.
The tormentors had been sexually harassing the class XI student for the past six months. But every complaint filed by the victim’s family was dismissed by the local police.
With no deterrence, the miscreants became emboldened and chose to target the girl in her home.
After the ordeal, the victim’s father lodged an FIR naming three neighbours — Gunnu Tiwari, Dabboo Singh and Guddu — on Wednesday. By the time he returned home, the harassed girl chose to jump into a well and end her life.
The Baghraya police have now registered a case against the three under POCSO Act and abetment to suicide.
While Guddu was arrested, his two aides are yet to be nabbed.
“After the registration of a case against the three miscreants, the police arrested Guddu. Three teams have been formed to arrest the remaining two,” Superintendent of Police of Pratapgarh, Anurag Arya, said on Wednesday.
In another shocking incident reported from Hathras, a four-year-old girl was raped by her cousin in Sasni village on Tuesday.
A case was registered and the rapist was later arrested.
In a similar incident, a minor girl had died after being raped by her minor cousin in Aligarh about a month ago. The victim, a resident of Jatoli village in Sadabad area of Hathras, was brutalised while she came to stay with the relatives in Aligarh. After battling for life for nearly three weeks, the victim died on October 5.
Meanwhile in Chitrakoot, due to growing pressure from villagers, who blocked roads demanding the arrest of the culprits who raped a Dalit minor girl and pushed her to suicide, the police arrested three persons, including the son of a former village pradhan.
Two cops were also suspended for ignoring the complaints of the victim’s family.
The locals blocked the road and held a protest demanding death penalty for the culprits. Initially refusing to cremate the victim’s body, the family relented after meeting senior police and administration officials.
Three men, including the son of a former village head, kidnapped and then gang-raped the minor girl on October 8. Unable to bear the trauma and humiliation, the victim ended her life the very next day. While three accused were arrested, outpost incharge Anil Sahu and SHO Jai Shankar Singh were suspended for laxity.