The Ghaziabad police on Wednesday arrested a 21-year-old man for allegedly raping his 17-year-old cousin and pushing her off the roof of her house on the night of October 20 in the Niwari police station area. Police said the girl suffered head injuries in the fall and required hospitalization.
She has since been discharged and is stable.
Officers said the accused is a college (undergraduate) student, while the survivor studies in Class 12.
According to police, the teenager had been under treatment for depression for the past several years and had reportedly been sexually assaulted by the accused since the age of nine.
What happened?
He had allegedly threatened her against revealing the assaults to anyone, said police.
“She was depressed for the past six to seven years and was undergoing treatment at hospitals in Delhi and Meerut. Most of the time she remained quiet and withdrawn,” the survivor’s father said in his complaint at Niwari police station.
Assistant commissioner of police (Modinagar) Amit Saxena said the accused visited the girl’s home on Diwali night and called her to the terrace, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
“When she resisted, he pushed her off the roof and fled. The girl fell on the stairs and sustained head injuries. Her family rushed her to a hospital, and later learnt about the sexual assault. Initially, they hesitated to approach police fearing social stigma and also because the accused was a family member, but later decided to file a complaint,” he said.
What does the complaint mention?
Based on the father’s complaint, police registered a case under sections 65(2) (rape), 131 (assault or criminal force), 351(3) (criminal intimidation), and 115(2) (causing hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The police said over the past couple of years, the girl was constantly depressed, and the family took her to several hospitals for treatment. There she told counsellors about the sexual abuse since childhood.
“She did not reveal her ordeal to her family, but they came to know from counsellors about the abuse.
They tried to prevent the accused from visiting their house, but he continued to find excuses to come.
Following the latest incident, police arrested him on October 29 and produced him before a court, which remanded him in judicial custody,” Saxena said.
Investigators said the girl’s medical examination has been conducted and her statement recorded before a magistrate. The accused, a resident of Madhuban Bapudham, also faces a previous case of voluntarily causing hurt registered at Kavi Nagar police station, police said.