Dec 31, 2012: Engineering student alleges rape in Haryana, accused arrested

Edited by Sindhu Manjesh | Updated: December 31, 2012 08:47 IST

Kurukshetra: An engineering student has been accused of raping a Dalit girl, also an engineering student, and recording an MMS of the incident in Kurukshetra, Haryana, The accused has been arrested. 

News of this incident comes even as the chorus of protests - demanding speedy justice for the accused in the Delhi gang-rape incident and stricter anti-rape laws - grows across the country.

The victim has alleged that the man attacked her while she was on her way for tuition classes. The accused reportedly forced her into his car and took her to an isolated spot where he raped her before dumping her nearby. The girl managed to get back home and narrated the incident to her family. 

A case has been filed with the local police and medical examination of the girl has confirmed that she was assaulted. Narinder Singh, the local Station Incharge, said that the incident occurred on December 28 and the complaint was lodged a day later.
Link: Engineering student alleges rape in Haryana, accused arrested

Dec 31, 2012: Woman in distress? Dial 181, Delhi government's 24x7 helpline

Press Trust of India | Updated: December 31, 2012 08:46 IST

New Delhi: The Delhi government today launched a round-the-clock helpline '181' for helping women in distress.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had announced the setting up of this helpline last week following widespread protests in the city in the wake of the brutal gang-rape of 23-year-old medical student 'Amanat '(NOT her real name). After battling for her life for 13 days, the girl died in a Singapore hospital on Saturday.

The helpline will operate from the Chief Minister's office in Delhi Secretariat and will be connected with all the 185 police stations across the city.

Mrs Dikshit had requested Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal to allot a three-digit helpline number for helping women. The Ministry had earlier allotted '167' as the helpline but following a request for a number that would be easier to recollect, it was changed to '181'.

This is the first three-digit number to have been allotted by the Telecom Ministry in two years.
Link: Woman in distress? Dial 181, Delhi government's 24x7 helpline

Dec 30, 2012: One conviction out of 635 rape cases in Delhi this year

Press Trust of India | Updated: December 30, 2012 12:52 IST

New Delhi: There has been only one conviction out of over 600 cases of rape reported to Delhi Police this year even as crime against women has been on the rise in the national capital.

As many as 754 accused were arrested in the 635 cases reported to Delhi Police between January and November, the highest in past five years, Home Ministry said. Of all the accused, only one was convicted while 403 are facing trials and investigations are pending against 348 and two others were discharged.

A total of 572 rape cases were reported to Delhi Police last year as against 507 in 2010, 469 in 2009 and 466 in 2008. The Delhi Police arrested 745 accused last year. Of these, 18 were convicted, 34 were acquitted, 597 are facing trials in different courts, 86 are still being investigated and 10 were discharged for the crime.

In 2010, out of 685 arrested accused, 37 were convicted and 107 were acquitted. Trials are on against 518 accused and investigations were pending against 13 others, the data said. In the previous two years 1279 people were arrested for rape. Of these, 82 were convicted in 2009 and 52 in 2008.

As many as 211 people were acquitted in 2009 and 119 in 2008.

During 2009, investigation was pending against one accused and in 2008, probe involving 17 accused was yet to be completed, the Home Ministry said.

The national capital has also reported 624 cases of molestation of women between January and November and the police have arrested 768 accused. However, conviction was done in only one case. The trials were pending against 402 accused and investigations were pending against 356 others suspected to have molested women, it said.

A total of 657 cases of molestation of women were reported last year in which 910 were arrested. Whereas, in
601 cases of molestation of women reported in 2010, 552 in 2009 and 611 in 2008, 867 accused were arrested in 2010, 826 in 2009 and 912 in 2008, the data said.

Only three were convicted for molesting women last year, 12 in 2010, 11 in 2009 and 16 in 2008, it said.
A total of 835 accused arrested in 2011 were facing trials. Also, the trials were pending against 811, 737 and 780 accused arrested in 2010, 2009 and 2008 respectively, the data said.

The national capital has reported 111 cases of dowry harassment between January and November this year. Besides, 98 such cases were reported to Delhi Police last year, 78 in 2010, 118 in 2009 and 104 in 2008.

There were 128 dowry deaths reported in the national capital in the first eleven months this year as against 142 and 143 such deaths in 2011 and 2010 respectively, it said.

A total of 193 cases of eve teasing were reported to Delhi Police between January and November in which 200 accused were arrested. Of these, 105 were still under investigation and 95 were facing trials, the data said adding that there was no conviction in any of the reported cases.

Delhi has reported 165 cases of eve teasing last year and 126 in 2010 in which 172 and 116 accused were arrested respectively.
Link: One conviction out of 635 rape cases in Delhi this year

Dec 30, 2012: A teen rape survivor is fighting for justice

Agence France-Presse | Updated: December 30, 2012 12:18 IST

New Delhi: Every month a 16-year-old boards a train from her remote village in eastern India and steels herself for another round of searing cross-examination by lawyers about the men who kidnapped, raped and sold her.

While the tragic killing of a medical student after she was gang-raped in Delhi has triggered an outpouring of angry protests and attracted global headlines, the ordeal of this young village girl in West Bengal is an equally damning indictment of the fate of sex attack victims in India.

"I hear about the Delhi rape case on the radio every day," she told AFP in a phone interview from her home. "Only a rape victim can understand the grief of another rape victim. She died but I have to live to fight on."

On a summer's day in 2010, while working at her family shop in her village, she says two boys offered her an ice cold soda, laced with sedatives.

She regained consciousness in a train compartment in the presence of three men. When they arrived at a Delhi station, the men frogmarched her to an apartment, she says.

"They locked me in a room, forced me to stay silent by attacking me with shoes and sticks and then they raped me."

The 14-year-old was then sold to a brothel in the capital.

"Drivers, old men, poor men and some rich boys, they all exploited me for a year," said the teen, who was rescued along with 10 other girls by the police and a voluntary organisation during a series of raids in the capital's red light district.

But her struggle was far from over. When she arrived home, she found no one supported her decision to register a police case.

"In a city, a girl still has the freedom to decide, but in a village she cannot make a decision against the wishes of a village head. A woman has to obey her father, brothers, village men," she said.

"Why would one man punish another man? But I registered a police case against my kidnappers, rapists and traffickers."

It took the brutal multiple rape and murder of the 23-year-old student in the capital to push the epidemic of sexual violence against women onto the front pages, but the real epicentre is in the villages.

The teen's village, like thousands of Indian villages, is a tight-knit, mainly agrarian community where family honour and the avoidance of shame are a matter of life and death.

Women are never given the freedom to voice their opinion. Men take decisions on their behalf, including the clothes they wear and whether they can go out or not.

The local police is often reluctant to pursue cases of sex assault. Only last week, a teenager in Punjab committed suicide after she was allegedly asked to drop her complaint in exchange for cash or by agreeing to marry one of her attackers.

But this 16-year-old wanted the world to know what happened. She says too many victims are either afraid or ashamed to speak out.

Her fight for justice has been supported by Shakti Vahini, a voluntary organisation that provides her with legal aid.

"But the confidence and the commitment to fight is solely hers," said Rishi Kant of Shakti Vahini.

Kant, who has been facilitating raids in red light districts of New Delhi for over 12 years, said the city is a hub for sex trafficking, but despite the increase in sex attacks, the number of convictions has fallen.

New Delhi has been dubbed the "rape capital" of India, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to police figures.

The lack of women officers has been widely blamed for the failures of police forces to thoroughly investigate allegations of sex crimes. Women currently account for fewer than one in five Indian police officers.

The West Bengal teen was forced to record her statement -- and the details of her abuse -- before male officers.

Three of her alleged attackers were promptly arrested and charged but two years later they are all out on bail. India's notoriously slow justice system allows defence lawyers to spin the case out as it goes through the courts.

Her family's home has been destroyed and their rice field torched after she refused to withdraw the case.

That defiant streak has enabled to her endure the humiliating questions in the packed courtroom where she is asked to recall minute details of each assault.

"They once asked me how many times did I sleep with men? I replied: 'I never slept with them, they raped me'.

"A lawyer then asked how much money did I make at the brothel? I said, the men just threw a few coins at my face, so they could hurt me more."

Asked if she believes she will ever get justice, she replied: "At least I'm trying."
Link: A teen rape survivor is fighting for justice

Dec 30, 2012: 15-year-old Dalit girl allegedly raped, held captive for 15 days

Press Trust of India | Updated: December 30, 2012 18:54 IST

Sultanpur: A 15-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped and held captive for 15 days by three men in Dharauli village in Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

The incident was reported after she was "freed" on Saturday. According to police the girl went missing on December 14 while going to school.

An FIR has been registered against the three accused. The main accused has been charged with rape, while the other two have been booked for criminal conspiracy. All of them have been absconding since the incident took place.

The incident comes amid national outrage over the gang-rape of a 23-year-old medical student in a moving bus in Delhi. She died on Friday night after battling for life for nearly two weeks.
Link: 15-year-old Dalit girl allegedly raped, held captive for 15 days

Dec 30, 2012: Two women injured in acid attack in Uttar Pradesh

Reported by Anant R Zanane, Edited by Ashish Mukherjee | Updated: December 30, 2012 22:42 IST

Muzzafarnagar: Two women were waylaid and attacked with acid by a man in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

Police said the two women, aged 40 and 50, were on a cycle-rickshaw when the attacker stopped them and threw acid. He had masked his face and could not be identified.

One of the women, who is a nurse, suffered 40 per cent burns, said doctors at the district medical centre where she was admitted.

She has been referred to Meerut for treatment. The other woman, who is her neighbour, suffered 10 per cent burns. 
Link: Two women injured in acid attack in Uttar Pradesh

Dec 30, 2012: Girl molested in moving bus in Delhi

By Raj Shekhar, TNN | Dec 30, 2012, 10.46 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Even as angry protest over the horrific gang-rape of a woman in Delhi rages, another girl has been molested in the national capital. 

The girl was molested by an off-duty conductor in a moving DTC cluster bus on Saturday night at Tansen Marg. 

The girl was spotted crying on the bus by cops, when the driver stopped at a police post to enquire about the way to Lajpat Nagar. 

The cops have arrested the accused, Ranjeet, and detained the driver of the cluster bus in which the girl was molested.

A case has been registered at the Barakhmaba road police station. 

Ranjeet is the conductor of another bus which runs on 410 line.
Link: Girl molested in moving bus in Delhi

Dec 29, 201: Teenage gang-rape victim attempts suicide in Ahmedabad

Press Trust of India | Updated: December 29, 2012 23:44 IST

Ahmedabad: A minor gang-rape victim allegedly attempted suicide by consuming poison at her residence today, police said.

The 14-year-old girl's condition is critical and she has been put on ventilator, they said.

According to police, the minor was kidnapped in a car from Dholka town in the district and raped by two persons, identified as Prakash Devipujak and Mohit Devipujak, on December 6, following which her family members registered FIR on December 14.

"The girl had been complaining to her father of acute stomach pain for the past two days. Unable to bear it any longer, she mixed pesticide with water and drank it early morning today. She was immediately taken to a private hospital in the village before being brought to V S Hospital in city," Dholka police inspector B D Thakkar told reporters in Ahmedabad.

He said the girl has been put on ventilator and kept in the Trauma Centre. "Her condition is critical because she is physically very weak," Thakkar said.

Meanwhile, a search is on to trace the accused duo who are on the run since the incident, the officer said, adding information has been passed on to police stations in the neighbouring villages about them.
Link: Teenage gang-rape victim attempts suicide in Ahmedabad

Dec 29, 2012: Woman researcher dies: NIT lecturer arrested

PTI | Dec 29, 2012, 06.48 PM IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A lecturer of the National Institute of Technology-Kozhikode, was arrested today in connection with the death of a 25-year-old woman researcher while travelling with him in a train some 18 months back. 

According to police sources Subhash was arrested after the investigators came across circumstantial evidences into the incident. 

The Crime Branch team, which probed the case, suspected that Subhash pushed the victim out of the train after she spurned his proposal to marry him. 

The research student of NIT-Kozhikode, hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, died by falling into the Periyar river when the train was passing through the Aluva Bridge near Kochi on April 24, 2011. 

It was Subhash, travelling with her, who informed the railway police of the disappearance of the researcher. Her body was found from the river a few days back. 

The railway police initially dismissed the incident as a case of suicide. However, Kerala High Court ordered an investigation by the Crime Branch based on a plea from her father.
Link: Woman researcher dies: NIT lecturer arrested

Dec 29, 2012: Fear of rape stalks Garhwa women

By Q A Hadi, TNN | Dec 29, 2012, 06.21 AM IST
GARHWA: Several incidents of rape have been reported from Garhwa in the last few days. While a married woman was sexually assaulted by a villager on Wednesday at Katahar village, a school student was gang-raped by two youths when she was returning from school along with another girl. Two youths forcibly took her into a nearby forest and raped her.

Sangita Devi (22), a married woman and daughter of Naresh Thakur, was raped by Vijay Paswanwhen she was returning from a nearby field late on Wednesday. According to the victim, Paswan forcibly took her to a secluded place and raped her. Villagers caught Paswan when she raised an alarm. They then handed over Paswan to Dhurki police station. "Police have lodged an FIR against the accused on the basis of the victim's statement," said OC Tetru Oraon. On December 25, a schoolgirl Reema Kumari (name changed) was gang-raped when she was returning from school.

OC Tetru Oraon said the victim had lodged a complaint with the police station. "On the basis of her complaint, police arrested one of the accused, Raza Khan, and sent him to jail, while another is still at large," police said.
Link: Fear of rape stalks Garhwa women

Dec 28, 2012: Class X girl gang-raped in moving car in Noida

By Purusharth Aradhak, TNN | Dec 28, 2012, 08.29 PM IST

NOIDA: A class X student was allegedly gang raped by her uncles and cousins in Greater Noida on Friday. What is more shocking is that the victim has alleged that the police tried to hush up the entire incident and were forcing the victim and her family to come to a compromise with the accused. Also, The accused's car with tinted glass kept moving in several arterial roads in the city but no policemen stopped the car.

It was only when the locals staged a protest against police inaction, that the police lodged an FIR. The village panchayat also pressurized the victim's family for compromise.

The victim lives with her family in Chaysa village while she studies in an inter college in a nearby village. The victim was kidnapped on Wednesday morning when she was going to her school. The accused in a car stopped the victim and pulled her in the car. The accused reportedly put a handkerchief laced with sedative which put the girl in an unconscious state.

The girl was found in an unconscious state near a railway track in Dadri later in the evening on Wednesday. The family came to know about the incident after a local informed the family. When the victim regained consciousness, she narrated that two uncles and cousins allegedly kidnapped and then raped her.

SP (rural) Ashok Kumar said that the family initially had alleged that their girl was kidnapped and thrashed. "On the basis of complaint we had registered an FIR now family also alleged that the victim was also raped. Henceforth we sent the girl for medical examination. Initial report of medical examination suggests that there were no external injury marks on the private part but final report is not here yet. We will also add rape charges in the FIR," Kumar said So far no accused has been arrested but manhunt has been launched to nab the culprits.

Meanwhile the victim's family was reportedly pressurized by the local panchyat and police for settlement. The family is demanding stringent action against the culprits. On Friday the victim's family members and supporters also staged the protest demanding early arresting of the accused.

The incident raised questions on the inadequate law and order in the region.
Link: Class X girl gang-raped in moving car in Noida

Dec 28, 2012: Woman gang-raped, Agra lawyer detained

TNN | Dec 28, 2012, 01.15 AM IST

NEW DELHI: A 42-year-old woman from Jaipur has alleged that she was abducted, beaten up and raped by three men who later dumped her from a moving car in Kalkaji on Wednesday.

A case of gang rape has been registered and an Agra lawyer has already been detained. Three police teams have been raiding several places in Faridabad, Agra, Mathura, Vrindavan and Jaipur to nab the other two men. The victim claimed she knew the lawyer, whom she has named as main accused, for over five years as they both had the same guru. She also claimed that she had gone to Mathura-Vrindavan on December 22 for spiritual healing and was returning home via Delhi on Wednesday afternoon.

"She has alleged that the accused met her in Mathura-Vrindavan and offered to drop her to Delhi. She was instead taken to a flat at an unidentified location where two other men were waiting. The trio threatened her with a knife and raped her," said an officer, quoting from her statement.

The woman also alleged that they even hurt her with the knife when she resisted.

"Later, the trio forced her inside their car and drove down to Delhi. They dumped her in Kalkaji around 9pm," the officer said.

The victim asked a passerby where she was and borrowed a phone to call up a woman in Lajpat Nagar, who then informed cops about the incident.

The victim was sent to AIIMS for medical examination and a case was registered. Her call records were scanned, too, and lawyer's location was traced. By Thursday morning, a team had reached Agra and detained the accused.

But there were counter claims made by the lawyer that got the cops confused. He alleged that he was being framed and that the victim had tried to file a similar case in Agra a year ago which had not materialized as the local cops had not found the allegations true.

Cops are also probing if there is any property dispute between the victim and the lawyer.
Link: Woman gang-raped, Agra lawyer detained

Dec 27, 2012: Teen who was gang-raped commits suicide, cops refused to help her

Reported by Anand Kumar Patel, Edited by Abhinav Bhatt | Updated: December 27, 2012 19:00 IST

Patiala: A 17-year-old in Patiala who had been gang-raped has committed suicide because the police allegedly embarrassed her and refused to register a case for over a month.   

The teen was sexually assaulted on Diwali by two men. Though her family was threatened by the alleged rapists, they decided to file a police case two weeks after the attack.

The family alleges that the cops refused to register a case; they summoned the teen repeatedly to the police station and humiliated her. "The police started pressuring her to either reach a financial settlement with her attackers or marry one of them," her sister said today.
On Wednesday night, she was found dead at home; she drank poison to kill herself, the police said.

The police officer running the station where she tried to get her case filed has been fired for dereliction of duty; another cop has been suspended. Her two alleged rapists were arrested today along with another man and woman accused of serving as accomplices.

Since a medical student in Delhi was gang-raped on a bus on December 16, students and women activists have been holding near-daily protests, demanding a slew of changes to check sexual crimes against women.   

They want better safety for women; fast-track courts to ensure rape cases are tried quickly; and more serious punishment for rapists. 

Activists and experts also point out how inept and insensitive police officers are when handling victims of sexual crimes; sensitization and training are urgently needed, they say, to ensure women who have the courage to report sexual assault are not further traumatised by police officers.
Link: Teen who was gang-raped commits suicide, cops refused to help her

Dec 27, 2012: Doctor held for 'selling babies'

Rajiv Kalkod, TNN Dec 27, 2012, 05.40PM IST

BANGALORE: A 40-year-old doctor, allegedly stole a 22-day-old new born baby and was on her way to sell him for Rs 85,000.

A sting operation carried out by a local TV channel led by a woman police sub-inspector acting as a barren mother succeed in netting the doctor inside her two floor 'Get Well' hospital in Bazar street, Neelasandra.

The arrest was made when the accused Parvin Prakash, who owns the Get Well hospital accepted Rs 85,000 from the decoy woman inspector inside her chamber.

Based on the complaint made, the Ashoknagar police arrested her and her son, identified as Arsh and detained him.

While locals at Neelasandra termed the hospital as an 'abortion centre', few of them alleged that Parvin used to sell children. "It is not a new thing. She has been selling infants for a long time," a Neelasandra resident said.

"She often visits labor ward in Vani Vilas hospital in Victoria hospital premises. And we suspect her to be a regular baby lifter," a investigating police officer said.

Meanwhile the police suspected that the baby boy was the same which went missing from Vani Vilas hospital labor ward last week. "We have summoned the parents who are in Devanahalli," police said.

Dec 22, 2012: 2 brothers molest girl in Kalyan, arrested

By Pradeep Gupta, TNN | Dec 22, 2012, 03.22 AM IST

KALYAN: Two brothers molested a girl and thrashed her brother but the police only booked them under minor charges and not for assault in Kalyan (W) on Thursday night. It was only after the media raised the issue with senior officials that the police hurriedly added the assault charge.

The incident came as Thane's top cop recently suggested that women should carry chilli powder with them and use it in case of harassment or assault.

This is the eighth attack on women in Thane district this month.

The 18-year-old victim was going home to Sheetal Nagar, when Raja Rathod (19) and Vijay Rathod (20) started passing comments at Lalchowky road, opposite Sundar Nagar complex, Adharwadi. On reaching home, the girl narrated the incident to her elder brother, who went to meet the two, who are from the same area. When questioned, the two thrashed the victim's brother till some local residents intervened.

When the victim approached the Bazarpeth police station, the cops filed an FIR under Sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint.), 509 (harassment), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The police arrested the accused from their house later that night.

Sources said the police took the matter lightly and only when the media raised the issue did they add Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt). Senior inspector R R Patil claimed that they had already registered the assault charge.

D N Shukla, a local lawyer, said, "Even though Section 323 is the normal one, by implementing it in the case as the victim's brother was beaten up, the investigators can prove the seriousness of the offence, which will help the police get maximum punishment for the accused."
Link: 2 brothers molest girl in Kalyan, arrested

Dec 21, 2012: Woman drugged, gang-raped in Delhi

Press Trust of India | Updated: December 21, 2012 23:29 IST

New Delhi: In yet another case of rape in the capital, a 40-year-old woman was allegedly gangraped on Friday in Welcome area of the capital by three persons, police said.

The incident took place at the rented accommodation of the mother of four.

One of the accused, Gaffar, 46, has been arrested while two others are missing, police said.
Police has identified one of the two accused as Aalam, also 46.

The victim was living in a rented accommodation for around a fortnight, while her family was living in New Usmanpur area.

According to police, the accused entered into her house and forced her to consume a spiked drink and later took turns to rape her.
Link: Woman drugged, gang-raped in Delhi

Dec 22, 2012: Woman raped by co-workers in Rewari

PTI | Dec 22, 2012, 08.21 PM IST

REWARI: A woman from Madhya Pradesh working at a factory here has been raped allegedly by two of her co-workers in Karnawas village of the district. 

The 28-year-old was sexually assaulted last Thursday by the two workers of the auto parts factory where she worked as a cook, police said. 

A case has been registered against the absconding accused and a manhunt was launched to nab them, they said, adding that victim's medical examination has confirmed rape.
Link: Woman raped by co-workers in Rewari

Dec 22, 2012: Woman stripped naked, gang-raped in Tripura

Indo-Asian News Service | Updated: December 22, 2012 19:25 IST

Agartala: A housewife was stripped naked, gang-raped and battered in full public glare in Tripura, police said Saturday.

"A 37-year-old woman was gang-raped at Bishalgarh in western Tripura Wednesday night. After the rape, the women was stripped naked, brutally beaten up and then tied to a tree," a police official told reporters in Agartala.

Based on the victim's complaint, police immediately swung into action and arrested seven people. However, three more accused, including the main one, are on the run.

Police said the accused dragged the house wife from her home and took turns to rape her before many people, including women. But no one dared to come forward to save the mother of a five-year-old.

The role of the husband is also being probed, the police official said.

Tripura Woman's Commission chairperson Purnima Roy strongly condemned the atrocious incident and asked the police to take stern action against the culprits.

People organised a protest rally at Bishalgarh, 25 km from here, over the incident.
Link: Woman stripped naked, gang-raped in Tripura

Dec 22, 2012: 12-year-old girl allegedly gang-raped by minors in Tamil Nadu

Reported by J Sam Daniel Stalin | Updated: December 22, 2012 23:28 IST

Nagapattinam: A 12-year-old girl has been allegedly gang-raped by two minor boys in Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam district.

The boys have been sent to a juvenile home.

The girl is in hospital. She will be sent for medical examination on Sunday.

The fourth standard girl was assaulted when she was alone home.
Link: 12-year-old girl allegedly gang-raped by minors in Tamil Nadu

Dec 22, 2012: In Alwar, 6-year-old hospitalized after rape

By Rajendra Sharma, TNN | Dec 22, 2012, 03.23 AM IST

ALWAR: Even as the nation fumes at the brutal gangrape of a girl in Delhi, in Alwar a 6-year-old girl was hospitalized after a man lured her into an abandoned house with chocolate and raped her. 

According to the child's family, she sustained serious injuries and has been drifting in and out of consciousness. Shockingly, amid the national outrage over lack of safety for women, the Rajasthan police displayed an indifferent approach in the case, allegedly refusing to lodge an FIR for three days and forcing the family to run from pillar to post. Eventually, the girl's kin approached the district superintendent of police and the accused was finally arrested after the senior official's intervention on Friday. 

"The girl, a class III student, was returning home after dropping her brother at school on December 17. She was intercepted by one Lokesh Gujjar, a resident of UP who lives in a rented housenear Gopal Talkies in the town," said a family member. 

Lokesh offered the girl chocolate and asked her to come to a house near her residence. He told her he would give her more chocolates inside that house," said a family member. 

The accused then raped the girl and fled from the spot, leaving her severely injured and bleeding. 

The family members claim the girl somehow reached her house and fainted. She has been admitted in a hospital. Her condition is said to be stable but the bleeding is yet to stop. 

The girl's kin went to the Kotwali police station where they claim that the cops refused to lodge the FIR and even threatened them against lodging a complaint. In their complaint to Alwar SP Umesh Dutta, the family members alleged that some cops were conniving with the accused. 

"We have arrested the accused and referred the FIR to the special women's police station for further action," said SHO, Kotwali police station Ganpat Lal. 

Meanwhile, in yet another rape case, a 15-year-old girl has lodged an FIR with the Muhana police station in Jaipur alleging that a distant relative raped her in Kota. The police have arrested the accused. 

According to the police, parents of the girl had gone to attend a wedding function in Baran district. "A distant relative of the girl - Jitendra alias Jeetu - came to the girl's house on December 15 and told her a false story about her parents calling her to Kota. She went with them but Jeetu raped her there," said a police officer. The parents registered the FIR following which Jeetu was arrested on Thursday evening.
Link: In Alwar, 6-year-old hospitalized after rape

Dec 22, 2012: Now, three-year-old girl raped in play-school in Delhi

Press Trust of India | Updated: December 22, 2012 07:10 IST

New Delhi: A three-year-old girl was raped in a play-school in West Delhi, prompting the Delhi government on Friday to ask the police to take stringent action against its principal.

The child was allegedly raped by the husband of the owner of the school on Monday in west Delhi's Sagarpur area, and the incident came to light two days later, police said.

After the incident, the victim got ill and her family members admitted her in a hospital where doctors informed them that she has been raped.
The accused was arrested on Thursday.

Women and Child Development Minister Kiran Walia, after review of the situation in a meeting of Delhi Commission for Protection of Child's Right (DCPCR), asked the DCPCR chairman to initiate action.

The Commission also recommended the police to close the school till further orders and that a closure report should be placed before the Commission by December 24.

Ms Walia asked the police to invoke stringent provisions against the culprit and directed them to invoke Section 23 of Juvenile Justice Act on the land lady who was running the school.

She also directed Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital to provide medical care to the victim and asked the child psychologist to submit reports regularly to DCPCR and Child Welfare Committee.
Link: Now, three-year-old girl raped in play-school in Delhi

Dec 21, 2012: Crime against women figures do different talking

By Ankur Sirothia | Dec 21, 2012, 03.42 AM IST

BHOPAL: The government's argument that number of crimes against women is higher in Madhya Pradesh because every single case is registered here to take tough action against accused does not sound convincing enough after this chilling reality.

More than 33,500 rape cases have been reported in the state between 2001 and October 2012. Against the number, there were only 580 rape convicts in the state jails in 2011. The number of under-trials for offence was 1,278 in the year.

Even if number of under trials and convicts are added, it would barely reaches to around 1,860, which is less than 10% of total cases registered over a decade.

Deputy inspector general (prisons) R S Vijayvargiya confirmed to TOI there were 580 rape convicts and 1,278 under-trials in state jails on December 31 in 2011.

The jail term for a rape accused generally ranges between 7 years to life imprisonment depending on the nature of crime and if the victim is a minor.

Even if calculated from 2005 ie seven years back till 2012, the total number of rape cases registered during the period comes to around 22,500, a figure which is not even 10% of number of convicts and under-trials serving jail term for rape in 2011.

The state record shows rape conviction rate in MP is somewhere between 25% to 30%. It certainly does not go with the records of total number of rape accused- either convicts or under-trials locked in jails.

Aruna Mohan Rao, ADG ( crime against women), says, "Now the rape cases are monitored regularly and efforts are on to ensure that victim gets justice."

Special government prosecutor (atrocities) Indrajeet Singh Rajput told TOI out of court settlement is a major reason for lesser number of rape accused in jails in comparison to total number of cases registered.
Link: Crime against women figures do different talking

Dec 21, 2012: 19-year-old allegedly gangraped by five persons

Press Trust of India | Updated: December 21, 2012 23:25 IST
Bhubaneswar: A 19-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by five persons at a secluded house in Bhubaneswar, police said on Friday.

The incident took place on Wednesday night when the girl was returning home in the city after a dance session at a hotel. A part-time dancer, the girl earns her livelihood by singing and dancing in parties, they said. 

According to an FIR lodged by the girl at the Mahila Police Station here, a 50-year-old man identified as Jatadhari Sahu invited her to discuss about a dance programme. She was taken to a house where four others were waiting.
"The girl was allegedly gangraped by the five and dumped at a place near Kalinga Stadium," Inspector-in-Charge of Mahila Police Station Amita Tripathy told reporters here quoting the FIR copy.

Stating that medical examination of the girl was conducted, Tripathy said police on Friday arrested four accused-- Jatadhari Sahu, Biranchi Narayan Das Mohapatra, 39, Subrat Das, 28, and Sangram Keshari Pradhan, 28, while the fifth accused was absconding. Sahu runs a private security agency, while the others are engaged in petty trade. 

They were produced before a court here and remanded in jail custody.
Link: 19-year-old allegedly gangraped by five persons