2 minor girls raped in different villages in UP's Bahraich, accused held

BAHRAICH: Two minor girls were allegedly raped in different villages in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district last week, police said on Sunday. The perpetrators have been arrested.

On August 1, a nine-year-old girl was raped in a village under the Motipur police station, Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Pavitra Mohan Tripathi said.

Based on a complaint from her uncle, a case was registered under section 65/2 (punishment for whoever commits rape of a girl under 12 years of age) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said. The official added that the accused was arrested on Saturday.

Tripathi said initially, the age of the accused was stated as 15 years. But during investigation, he confirmed that he is 19 years old, the official said and added that based on the accused's statement, legal action in being taken against him by considering him an "adult".

The other case was reported from a village under the Fakharpur police station.

Station House Officer (SHO) Abhinav Pratap Singh told PTI that a 12-year-old girl was raped on Friday while she was returning home from school.

The accused threatened her and forcibly took her to a sugarcane field where he raped her, Singh said. The girl reached home and informed her family about the incident.

They initially hid the incident out of shame but after a social worker convinced them to report the case, the victim's mother lodged a complaint against an unidentified person, the police said.

The case was registered under sections 65/1 (punishment for whoever commits rape of a minor above 12 years of age) and 351/3 (threat) of the BNS and provisions of the POCSO Act.

The accused was identified with the help of footage from a CCTV camera of a hospital near the incident spot. He was arrested early Sunday, Singh said.