Half a dozen youths detained in gang rape of minor brutally assaulted, later given clean chit by cops

Bareilly: Over half a dozen youths from Nawabganj tehsil who were picked up by police in connection with the gang rape of a minor girl recently, have alleged custodial torture by cops. One of the youths, Sabir, who got his leg fractured during investigation, claimed that police brutally assaulted them even as they claimed innocence. Another suspect, Danish, has slipped into depression after his condition deteriorated during the course of investigation.
Sabir, who was picked up on August 11 following the incident on August 8, was admitted to a city-based private hospital on August 13. “Police threatened us with dire consequences if we narrated our ordeal to anyone,” he said.
An eight-year-old girl was gang-raped by two unidentified men on August 8 following which police had rounded up several youths in the area based on the inputs of the girl’s family. Danish and Sabir were among those who were detained and allegedly tortured.
Later, police cracked the case after two youths, Afsar and Sameer Ahmed, arrested in another case of a minor’s gang rape, confessed to have been involved in the eight-year-old’s rape as well. Officials said that the two accused were serial rapists and they were caught after being spotted in a CCTV footage while abducting a minor girl in the second case on August 23.
“We had rounded up a few youths from the neighbourhood after the girl’s family suspected their involvement. I am not aware about the suspects being tortured in custody. A departmental inquiry in the case has been initiated to find out whether the youths were indeed tortured by policemen,” SP (rural) Khyati Garg said.
In an emotional Facebook post after the two incidents, the SP wrote, “We can’t undo something that has already happened. However, with the arrest of these serial rapists, we have ensured that such heinous crimes are not repeated.”
Meanwhile, SP Jogendra Kumar told TOI, “We picked up Danish and others based on the allegations of the girl’s family. Now that it has been established that they weren’t involved in the crime, we will make sure that no innocent person is booked. We have already set up a departmental inquiry into the alleged custodial torture.”