A chilling case of rape of a 4-year-old girl by an unidentified person in Shotomi village of Alahouto colony, Zunheboto was brought to light on Thursday, 9 June. The victim was a student enrolled at Eden Garden School, Zunheboto.
According to sources, the case came to light when on Thursday, she informed her mother about experiencing stomach pain, prompting her mother to take her to a private hospital for medical attention, in which the hospital declared it as ‘rape’ and asked the mother to transfer it to a public hospital.
According to sources, due to the victim’s young age, she was unable to identify the perpetrator, leading to a lack of progress in identifying and apprehending the culprit.
Outraged by the failure to identify the perpetrator, an angry mob vented their frustration by vandalizing the school building on Thursday evening. The mob accused the school of hiding the culprit, a claim denied by the school authorities who highlighted that all the teachers in the institution were female.
In response to mounting tensions, sources reported that the investigating authority summoned several male students from the school for questioning on Friday, June 10. This action further agitated parents, leading to an enraged mob attacking the local police station.
Following this, Rahul Bhanudas Mali IAS, Deputy Commissioner of Zunheboto, intervened to restore order by imposing Cr Pc section 144, effective from 12:00 am of June 11, 2023, until further notice. The order prohibits gatherings of five or more individuals and restricts non-essential vehicular movement across the entirety of Zunheboto. Additionally, an assembly of five or more persons has been prohibited in the vicinity of the DC office complex and its 100-meter surroundings until further orders.
Expressing their deep concern over the incident, the Zunheboto Range Students’ Union strongly condemned the heinous act and urged the district administration and investigative authorities to prioritize the matter and apprehend the culprit without delay.
Stating that the union will not remain silent till the culprit is booked and justice is delivered, the students’ union urged the general public to refrain from taking matters into their own hands.
At the time of filing this report, one suspect is reportedly in police custody, although it remains uncertain whether he is the actual perpetrator.
Zunheboto Police takes accused suspect into custody
Meanwhile, the Zunheboto Superintendent of Police, Vishal S through a press release on Saturday evening informed that the accused suspect, who is also a minor, has been taken into custody under POCSO Act.
He also said that investigation is going on in full swing to bring the case to an early logical conclusion and deliver justice to the victim.
“This factual assessment and progress of investigation is based on the investigation conducted so far and to lay any rumours or factual inconsistencies to rest,” he added.
According to the press release, Police received a written complaint regarding the sexual assault on a minor girl child in Zunheboto town on 09 June. The case was endorsed to the Women Police Station and the investigation was initiated immediately through a team led by SDPO.
As per the investigation, the incident happened in the morning of 8 June while the victim was in the school premises. Since the victim was a minor, interaction with the victim commenced in the presence of and through her family members. After a medical examination, the school authorities and staff were asked to associate with the investigation and were summoned to the Women PS on 10 June. Those examined included all school teachers, working staff and students. “Forensic samples have been collected for scientific evidence as per standard investigation procedures,” the SP said.
“On 9 Jun 2023, the judicial magistrate was requested to associate with a Test Identification Parade (TIP) of some suspects by the victim and her parents,” the SP said. On 10 June, the TIP was conducted in the presence of the Judicial Magistrate, Child Welfare Committee member, Women leaders, and parents along with the victim. In the TIP, all school teachers, working staff and students were ‘paraded’ before the victim to assess if the victim could identify the accused from among the suspects.
“The TIP was completed by the evening of 10 June, whereby, based on the report of the committee, a request was made to Judicial Magistrate for granting permission to take the identified suspect accused into custody. The suspect accused has been taken into custody at the time of writing the report. The suspect accused identified is also minor and therefore taking due care, necessary procedures are being completed,” SP Zunheboto said in the press release.