Teen rape incident: Body of suspected abductor found in Kurukshetra

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra/Chandigarh/New Delhi, January 17

Haryana Police on Wednesday said the body of the 19-year-old youth who was named in the FIR as the alleged abductor in the savage rape and murder case of a 15-year-old Dalit girl from a village in Kurukshetra district, had been found in a canal near Jyotisar in Kurukshetra.

The body was found on Tuesday night from the Bhakra Canal.

Police said the body of the Class XII student was found in a decomposed condition and was identified by his parents from a tattoo on his arm.

Police had earlier launched a hunt to nab the accused who is alleged to have abducted the girl from Kurukshetra when she went to attend a tuition class.

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The youth had been named as the alleged abductor in a complaint lodged by the girl’s family after the teenager had gone missing last week from her village in Kurukshetra after leaving home to attend a tuition class.

“On the complaint of the girl’s parents, we were treating the youth as a suspect for kidnapping. His body was found on Tuesday night from a canal near Jyotisar. Though there were no visible injury marks, the post-mortem will reveal the exact cause of his death,” Kurukshetra SP Abhishek Garg said.

The Class X student’s half-naked body was found on Saturday from near the bank of a canal in a village in Jind district after she had gone missing last Tuesday.

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Asked about the allegations levelled by the girl’s family that local police did not immediately act upon the complaint lodged with them when the girl had gone missing, the Kurukshetra SP said the SHO concerned had been placed under suspension.

The girl was brutally assaulted, her private parts mutilated and some of the vital organs ruptured, police had said earlier.

The incident triggered large-scale outrage, with the opposition Congress slamming the Khattar government over its alleged failure to ensure safety and security of women.

Alleging complete breakdown of law-and-order machinery, the Congress had also asked the BJP government to resign on moral grounds.

Police had earlier said they believed the number of accused in the crime could be more than one. However, with the body of the youth being found, the mystery of how the girl reached 100 km away from her home in Jind district where her body was found has further deepened.

“It is an ongoing investigation. We have also detained a few people. Our teams are investigating the case from all angles,” he said.

Later, ADGP RC Mishra said rape was yet not confirmed in the case. He said the IPC sections had been invoked only on apprehension. The post-mortem report didn’t talk about sexual assault, he said. Only subsequent scientific medical tests would confirm or hint at rape, said Mishra.

The FSL examination would ascertain the cause of the injury marks found on the girl’s private parts and other organs, Mishra said.

Meanwhile, about half a dozen Left-leaning women organisations burnt the effigy of Haryana CM ML Khattar outside the gate of Haryana Bhawan in New Delhi in protest against the recent spate of rape and murder cases in the state.

They raised slogans against Khattar and demanded his resignation.

They alleged that the government had failed to protect women in the state.

They held protest amidst tight security around Haryana Bhawan.

While the protest was taking place, Khattar was present in the Bhawan. With PTI