In a disturbing revelation in the Buldhana minor girl rape case, the prime suspect allegedly raped the victim girl after gagging her, while she was sleeping with other girl students in a dormitory of the Ashram school at Pala village in Khamgaon tehsil in Vidarbha region.
The 10-year-old victim girl came out with this disclosure, when she spoke former member of Maharashtra State Women Commission Aasha Mirge who was present when the former was medically examined at the Akola Government Medical College-cum-hospital a couple of days ago.
“The victim was trembling when she revealed what all happened on one particular night 22 in one of the hall of the ashram school at Pala… The prime accused (Itusingh Pawar) had asked one of the girls to keep the door of the dormitory open. He quietly sneaked into the hall and took bed cover of one girls sleeping. He spread the cover on the floor. He put his hand on the victim girl and took her forcibly on the spread bed cover where he perpetrated sexual assault on her,” Mirage said, while speaking to leading Marathi “ABP Majha”.
“The victim girl would not know as to what was happening. She told me in her trembling voice — that he removed clothes from his body, removed my clothes and slept over me… I asked her if she did not scream. The victim girl told me that the accused gagged her in the mouth.. When I met her two days back, I could see portion of her mouth having turned blue,” Dr Mirage said.
Dr Mirage said that the rape that allegedly took place on the night of October 22, a day before the school was closed for Diwali vacation, was not the first occasion when such a sexual assault had taken place on that girl. “From what I learnt, such thing (rape) happened on at least three to four occasions during the last two and half months,” she said.
According to Dr Mirage, at least three girl students were awake when the rape took place on the night of October 22 (Saturday)”, while the victim girl confided about the incident to two other students the following morning. “On Monday morning, the victim girl complained to the head master of the school (Bharat lahudkar) about the incident. But the headmaster told her to keep the information to herself and not to tell anyone… It is another matter the victim girl informed her parents about the incident, when she went to her village for Diwali vacation,” the former women commission member said.
Taking a strong exception to the victim girl having been examined male doctor at the Akola Medical college-cum-hospital, Dr Mirage said: “When I went to meet the girl to the hospital two days ago, I was shocked the girl being examined a male doctor. The victim girl was shaking in fear. First she had been taken to a hospital at Khamgaon. Since there was no female doctor in Khamgaon, she was later taken to Akola Medical college, where ironically she was examined by a male doctor. In fact, the victim girl had to visit Akola Medical College for age determination tests.. All I can is the victim girl was virtually harassed during her medical examination”.
Meanwhile, the Buldhana police have so far arrested 15 persons in connection with the minor girl’s rape. The investigators have, in all, registered offences under section 376 of IPC (rape) and Protection of Children from sexual offences act (POCSO).
A Special Investigation Team, headed by Buldhana’s Additional Superintendent of Police Sweta Khedkar, is investigating the incident.