Update: 10:18am – The Kothkai area of Shimla district in Himachal was filled with horror when reports of a 15-year-old school girl surfaced last week. The tremendous public anger rocked the hills demanding immediate justice to the minor and her family.
Finally, a week after the incident, police officials succeeded in arresting all the 6 accused. The accused are said to be aged between 19-42 that included two men from Uttarakhand and two from Nepal. The prime accused, Rajinder Singh, is believed to have had familiarity with the young girl as he had offered her a lift on two previous occasions.
The incident took place on the 4th of July when the victim was returning home from school. Rajinder Singh, the driver, offered the girl a lift and she didn’t hesitate joining him as he had dropped her home on two other occasions as well.
This time, Rajinder was accompanied by Ashish Chauhan, Subhash Bisht, Deepak Kumar, Surat Singh and Lokjan, all of whom work as daily wage labourers in Shimla.
The lot then deviated the vehicle to a nearby forest area and forced the victim out of the car. Rajinder was the first among the lot to rape the minor and the remaining 5 joined in one after the other.
In order to control the minor, one of the members forced the young girls mouth shut which eventually led to shortness of breath and she lost her life soon after.
Leaving her body in the forest, the six men disappeared. When the family was unable to trace their child, they filed a police complaint and the family members launched a hunt as well.
The victim’s body was recovered after 2 days near Haliala forest without her clothes. The minor’s limbs were broken and her body and face bore numerous injuries.
The recovery of the body agitated the State and several civilians took to a protest demanding an immediate justice. The severity of the situation finally led the cops to working round the clock and the 6 accused were captured within a week of the incident.
-D/Bhaskar
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