Lalitpur rape case: New staff posted at Pali police station, accused SHO to be produced in court

Lalitpur (UP), May 5

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New staff was posted at the Pali police station where the Station House Officer allegedly sexually assaulted a minor girl after she was dumped there by four youth following gang-rape, officials said on Thursday. Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pathak said the police were preparing to produce the accused SHO, Tilakdhari Saroj, in court later in the day.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Jogendra Kumar had removed the entire staff of the Pali police station after the incident came to light. While Dharmendra Singh has been made the new SHO of the police station, new staff has also been posted there, the officials said.

SP Pathak also said the rape survivor’s aunt and two youths were sent to judicial custody by the court on Wednesday. SHO Saroj was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl who was left outside his police station in Lalitpur by four men after they raped her for three days. He was arrested from an area near the Allahabad High Court, the officials said. Five others, including the girl’s aunt and the four men who had lured the victim to Bhopal and raped her, have been arrested as well, they added.

Police sources said the girl was lured to Bhopal, about 240 kilometres from Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh, by four men and they allegedly raped her for three days and then left her near the Pali police station.

Initially, SHO Saroj handed the victim over to her aunt but later on the pretext of recording her statement, called her to the police station and allegedly raped her there, they said.

With the incident sending shockwaves across the country, the National Human Rights Commission had issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary and the Director General of Police asking them to submit a report in this regard within four weeks.

Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP), the BSP and the Congress highlighted the vulnerability of the women in the state questioning where they should go to file their complaint and to whom they should trust. Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, however, said strict action will be taken against the accused and the stringent National Security Act will be slapped against them.