The Ujjain police on Thursday arrested an autorickshaw driver for the rape of a minor girl, who was seen in CCTV footage going door to door seeking help from people three days ago. The accused has been identified as Bharat Soni (24).
After his arrest, Soni was taken to the crime spot when he “tried to flee, pelted stones at several police officers and fell into a pit while running away”, said Superintendent of Police, Ujjain, Sachin Sharma.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the state government will spare no effort in ensuring the strictest punishment for the accused. “I have been constantly monitoring the situation. These kinds of criminals are not fit to live in society. He has injured the spirit of Madhya Pradesh. She is a daughter of Madhya Pradesh and we will take care of her in every way possible,” said the CM.
Police said they made the arrest based on a tip-off.
According to the police, Soni, the sole accused in the case, is named in two previous criminal cases.
The first case was registered in 2019 under sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code at Madhav Nagar police station. The second case was registered against Soni at Nanakhekda police station under sections 294 (obscene acts and songs), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC.
The police have also tracked the girl’s family to Satna district and have contacted her grandfather.
According to the police, the girl, who is recuperating from her surgery, will be looked after by the MP police as a local police officer has volunteered to take care of her education and expenses.
“The officer will adopt the girl. Her education and other living expenses will be taken care of…We will do character verification of all the autorickshaw and e-rickshaw drivers in Ujjain and create a database,” SP Sharma said.
The police had formed a 28-member team to probe the case. They said they checked over a 1,000 CCTV footage of the city, questioned over 100 known criminals in the area, besides rickshaw pullers, e-rickshaw and autorickshaw drivers, bus operators, and people at railway stations and bus stands.
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According to the police, the girl was wandering alone in the area when Soni allegedly caught hold of her and sexually assaulted her. The police had detained at least five auto drivers. One of them was picked up after bloodstains were found at the back of his autorickshaw. It was later found that he saw the girl after she was raped and gave her a ride, but did not inform the police. He was booked for not reporting the incident, the police said.
The police traced the girl’s grandfather to Satna district. He had filed a missing persons report on September 25 at a local police station. He said his granddaughter went missing on September 24 when he left home to graze the goats around 10 am.
“I searched for her in the locality and the relatives also did not see her,” the complainant said in the FIR, adding that his granddaughter was mentally challenged and could not even tell the name of her village.
