A 13-YEAR-old Dalit girl was allegedly kept at a police station for an entire night and beaten up when she attempted to file a rape complaint in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur city.
Three police officers were suspended on Wednesday in connection with the alleged August 30 incident, according to a senior official.
According to police, Babu Khan was arrested on September 3 under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act.
According to Chhatarpur district superintendent of police Sachin Sharma, Anoop Yadav, Sub Inspector Mohini Sharma, and Assistant Sub Inspector Gurudutt Shesha were suspended for keeping the rape victim in the police station.
According to Joint District Collector Pratap Singh Chauhan, the case was registered after the district child welfare committee (CWC) received a rape complaint.
According to the teen's mother, the girl went out to play on August 27 but did not return, so her father filed a missing person complaint at the Kotwali police station the next day.
On August 30, the girl returned home and told her parents that Babu Khan had taken her to his house, imprisoned her, and raped her for three days.
"We went to the police station to get a complaint registered. Two policewomen put pressure on my daughter to change her statement. They beat up my daughter. Another police officer took me outside. Inside, my daughter was kicked and beaten with belts," she alleged.
The girl was allegedly detained at the station all night while her parents stood outside.
Even on August 31, when they returned to the police station and asked inspector Yadav to open a case, they were driven out, according to the girl's mother.
Finally, on the evening of September 1, police filed a rape charge against the accused but did not file a kidnapping charge, she said.
In the First Information Report, the girl's age has been shown as 17 years and it does not mention the charge of kidnapping.
According to CWC member Afsar Jahan, the police appeared to be attempting to save the perpetrator and persuade the victim to change her story.
Another CWC member, Saurabh Bhatnagar, stated that the Child Welfare Committee requested police documents regarding her age after discovering that her age was listed as 17 instead of 13.
When a CWC team visited the gril's house, inspector Yadav was with the accused who in handcuffs,Bhatnagar said, adding that as per law, a rape accused cannot be brought in the presence of the victim.