India: UP girl raped for 3 days, face branded with hot iron rod after rejecting marriage proposal

In a shocking incident, a 17-year-old girl in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri was held captive for three days, repeatedly raped and her face was branded with a hot iron rod allegedly by a 21-year-old man after she refused to marry him.

The accused who branded the letters of his name ‘Aman’ on the girl’s face has since been arrested based on the complaint filed by the girl’s family.

What we know about the ordeal

Add WION as a Preferred Source

On April 19, the accused forcibly took the 17-year-old girl to his home as she was on her way back from a show, according to the complaint filed.

The girl’s mother, last week on April 21, filed a complaint with Dhaurahra police in which she accused Aman of taking her daughter away. She also accused him of holding her daughter captive at his home and said he raped and assaulted her, according to the police.

Also Read |Indian-American doctor who drove Tesla off cliff had major psychotic episode, report says

The girl somehow managed to escape and returned home on April 21 after which the family went to the police, according to the FIR filed.

The case was initially registered under sections 343 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), said Deputy Superintendent PP Singh, according to news agency PTI.

Since the girl returned home, Section 376 (rape) and the POCSO Act were added to the FIR, Singh said. The accused was arrested on Saturday (Apr 27), said the police, adding that the case is under investigation.

Speaking about the accused, the police said that the 21-year-old was a school dropout and worked at a salon in the city of Hyderabad. “He wanted to marry the girl and when she refused, he wrote his name on both her cheeks,” said Station House Officer Dinesh Singh.

The police said that since the girl was not carrying any ID, it was difficult to confirm if she was a minor but after they did, IPC Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt using a dangerous weapon) and 376 (rape) along with POCSO Act was also added to the FIR.

‘Lesser’ sections

The 17-year-old girl’s parents alleged that the police initially registered the case under “lesser” sections and that only after the survivor’s statement was recorded before a magistrate, section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), section 376 (rape) and the POCSO Act were added to the FIR.

Also Read |Three Indian women die in US after car crashes into trees in devastating accident

However, Superintendent (Kheri) Ganesh Saha told the Times of India (TOI) that the FIR was registered based on the complaint by the family and when they recorded the 17-year-old’s statement she did not level such “grave allegations”.

He added, “We don’t know why she changed her statement in court. However, we have started our probe as per her allegations now. The accused has been arrested.”

(With inputs from agencies)