In a sad incident, a community Panchayat in Mahabubabad area in Telangana allowed a rapist to go for Rs. 35,000.
On Friday, unknown people from the village complained regarding the incident at a police station. They informed the police a minor girl was repeatedly raped for four months and the Panchayat hadn’t taken any action.
The police reported a 14 year old Sravya (name changed) has been diagnosed with psycho-social disabilities. Due to her condition, her mother keeps her confined in the house. The mother is a daily wage laborer as the father passed away a few years ago.
The girl’s disability forced the mother to discontinue her education after class 5.
Sravya’s neighbor Rajeev (name changed) was aware Sravya was alone at home during the day. He took advantage of that for four months and raped the innocent girl continuously.
Sravya worked up the courage earlier this week and confided in her mother about the incident. The mother wanted justice and took the case to the elders of the village.
The elders decided to let the rapist go for just a fine of Rs. 35,000. The reason the elders let him be was they did not want to spoil the man’s life as he is married with a child.
Mahabubabad Rural SI, P. Jitender said, “We have filed a case under section 376 of IPC and under the POCSO Act. We have started investigating, and soon we will arrest him.”
He further added, “We have also filed a case under section 201 of IPC against the community people who tried to hush the matter up by holding a panchayat and levying a ‘fine’ on the accused, with the intention of getting away in the court of law.”
He concluded his statement with, “As of now, we have not arrested any one. We are examining some names in this regard, and we will get a clearer picture on Monday.”
