​ Eight booked for ‘murder, gang-rape’ of minor Dalit girl in Muzaffarnagar

MUZAFFARNAGAR: Police have registered an FIR against eight people, including two women, for the alleged murder and gang rape of a 15-year-old Dalit girl, who was found dead at her house on Wednesday morning. The incident was reported from Muzaffarnagar’s Bhurahedi village under Purqazi police station.
The victim’s father claimed that on Tuesday, their neighbor Malti Devi and her daughter (name withheld as girl is minor) took her daughter to the jungle in the adjoining Dhamat village where six men were waiting for them.“They assaulted and gang-raped my daughter before abandoning her at an undisclosed location. When she somehow reached home in the evening, there were bloodstains on her clothes. After a lot of persuasion, she told us about the incident,” he said.
On Wednesday morning, the victim was found dead inside her room in the house. Police were informed and her body was sent for postmortem. Soon after the body was handed over the family on Thursday evening, a large crowd of Dalits gathered in the village and held a protest. The agitators demanded strict action against all the eight accused. “Even though the report hasn’t confirmed gang-rape, we are now waiting for the viscera report. Malti Devi, her daughter, Sandeep, Kuldeep and four unidentified men have been booked under IPC sections 376 d (gang rape) and 302 (murder),” circle officer Rizwan Ahmad said.
Meanwhile, Muzaffarnagar SP Omveer said that an investigation will be conducted and the guilty persons will not be spared.