Case against seer, his associates for raping minor girl in MP; 1 person arrested

Rewa, March 30

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Police have registered a case against a seer and some of his associates for allegedly raping a minor girl in a government circuit house in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district, an official said on Wednesday.

The main accused, who is a religious storyteller, checked into a room of the circuit house along with the girl on March 28. The room was booked in the name of an alleged habitual offender, Additional Superintendent of Police Shivkumar Verma said, without specifying the victim’s age.

The seer’s associates bolted the room from outside. Inside the room, the seer forced the victim to consume liquor and then allegedly threatened and raped her, the official said.

The main accused and his associates later took the victim to some other place in a car, but she somehow managed to jump out of the vehicle and escape. The victim reached the Civil Lines police station where she informed officials about the incident, he said.

Based on her complaint, the police on Tuesday registered a case against the seer and his associates under relevant Indian Penal Code sections, including 376 (D) (gang rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The police arrested one of the accused, in whose name the circuit house room was booked, while the seer and his other associates, including the car driver, were absconding, the official said.

He said the police were also probing how the circuit house room was booked in the name of a habitual offender.

Leader of Opposition in the MP Assembly Kamal Nath took to Twitter to condemn the gang-rape incident.

“How the circuit house room was booked for them, and how they consumed liquor inside it is a matter of investigation,” the Congress leader tweeted and demanded stern action against those involved in the incident.