Shopkeeper rapes client’s daughter

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 19

A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a department store owner. The accused, identified as Amit Kumar, a resident of the Golden Vihar area, was arrested today.

The police said the victim’s father owed the accused Rs 1,500. When the department store owner reached his home to claim the payment, he found the girl alone at home and raped her.

Samim, a resident of Ekjot Nagar, had lodged a complaint with the police. He has stated in the complaint that he was a regular customer of the accused. In the past few weeks, he had bought some household items from the accused’s shop situated in the same locality. ”Since I bought the things on credit, I owed the shopkeeper Rs 1,500. He used to make frequent visits to my place to claim the payment. On December 17, he was not at home when the shopkeeper reached there. Since my daughter was alone at home, he asked her to clear the debt. Though my daughter requested the shopkeeper to come some other day as I was not at home, he insisted on payment. Finding her alone, he raped her,” the victim’s father told the police.

Investigating officer Pritpal Singh said the police got a tip-off about the whereabouts of the accused today. A raid was conducted and he was nabbed. ”Preliminary medical examination of the girl has confirmed rape,” he added.

The accused has reportedly confessed to the crime.