Ujjain: Police in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain city arrested Thursday an auto-rickshaw driver for allegedly raping and brutalizing a girl, aged about 12. The girl had been found wandering on the city streets in injured condition three days ago. The condition of the girl, admitted to an Indore hospital, is improving slowly, said a member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) who visited the hospital.
Accused Bharat Soni, detained during the probe, tried to escape when the police took him to the crime spot for recreating crime scene and collect evidence like torn clothes, said Mahakal police station in-charge Ajay Verma. He was chased by the policemen and caught when he fell on the cemented road after getting trapped around a corner, Verma told reporters. The incident took place near Jeevan Khedi locality and two policemen also sustained injured in the scuffle, he said.
Bharat Soni, the only accused in the case, is a resident of Nanakheda area of the city, informed an official. Police had detained him on the basis of CCTV footage earlier and claimed to have found blood stains on the passenger seat of his auto-rickshaw.
The girl was found bleeding on a road in Mahakal police station limits Monday. Medical examination found that she had been raped. She was operated upon by a team of specialist doctors at the Government Maharaja Tukojirao Holkar Women’s Hospital in Indore Wednesday.
A counsellor interacted with her and found that she belongs to Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. Whether she was the same girl about whom a missing person report had been filed will be confirmed after the missing girl’s family identifies her, police said.
Ujjain Superintendent of Police Sachin Sharma had said earlier that they had detained a rickshaw driver and also questioned five other persons in the case. The girl’s identity was yet to be established as she could not tell her name, age and address properly, but a counsellor interacted with her and found that she belongs to Satna district, he said. A missing girl report had been filed at Jaitwara police station in Satna September 25, Sharma added. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of police is conducting further probe, the SP said.
