Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), October 2: A shocking incident has been reported from Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district (bordering Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh) last week. A minor who is deaf and speech impaired was allegedly raped by six men among whom four were minors.

As per the complaint the incident took place on 25 September, when the accused who lived in the same village as the victim, lured her to a secluded place in the village. It was easy for them since the victim trusted them as they were her neighbours. When they reached the secluded area of the village, they took her to a constructed structure where they raped her, one after the other, turn by turn.

The incident also shows a blatant disregard of country’s law, since they knew the victim could easily recognise them after the sexual assault but that did not deter them from committing the crime against the minor. Maybe they thought the law is lax and they will remain scot-free even after committing such a heinous crime.

The minor girl who belongs to an underprivileged family was so shocked by this horrific incident that she didn’t tell this to anyone for a couple of days. On Wednesday afternoon, the victim tried to share her ordeal with her mother but she couldn’t understand, more so because it was beyond logical acceptance.  

Again, that night she narrated the whole incident using sign language that she was raped by six men of which two were her immediate neighbours. The mother showed her pictures of all the neighbours, and she was able to identify two of the culprits from amongst them.

After she was sure about the sexual assault on her child, the mother of the victim immediately informed the police who in turn registered a case against all the accused. Superintend of Police Awadesh Goswami said that the registration of case was delayed because the victim was unable to explain what actually happened.

All the accused have been arrested soon after the complaint being filed on Thursday, said Dinesh Chandra Sagar, Shahdol zone’s Police ADG.

All the six accused, including the minors aged between 15 to 17, have been booked under the IPC (Indian Penal Code) sections 376 (DA) (gang rape of a woman under sixteen years old), 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducting woman to compel her marriage etc.), 34 (common intentions) and under relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, said the police of Kotwali police station Shahdol.