Village head among two accused of gang-raping Dalit girl in UP's Gorakhpur

The family alleged that the police were shielding the accused under the pressure of Mahendra Pal Singh, the BJP MLA from Pipraich. But MLA Mahendra Pal Singh said that all the allegations being levelled against him are wrong. SP North Manoj Awasthi and SO Pipraich Suraj Singh ruled out gang-rape saying the accused molested the girl.

Gorakhpur: A Dalit girl in UP's Gorakhpur has accused two men, including the village head, of gang-raping her on December 15 night, but the police denied the allegations. They said that a case of molestation has been registered against the accused while a cross FIR has been booked against the girls' family members for allegedly assaulting one of the accused.

The family of the girl said the case was registered a week later only after they approached ADG Zone Akhil Kumar in the matter adding the local police were shielding the accused, who is said to be close to the local MLA . The girl from the Pipraich area of Gorakhpur alleged that on December 15, she was sleeping in the house while her parents were away for work when the accused Pradeep Singh and Ashwani alias Vipul Singh, the head of the village, barged into the house.

The girl alleged the duo muzzled her mouth and raped her in turns. When the girl protested, both of them beat her up and threatened to kill her, she said. The village head ran away after the sexual assault, and the girl's grandmother, who was sleeping in another room, caught the other accused. The girl said after they raised an alarm, the locals rushed to the spot and beat him up while she called the police.

She said the police arrived and took Ashwani alias Vipul Singh and asked her to come to the police station the next day morning. When she reached the police station on December 16 and lodged a complaint with the police, but the police refused to register the case, she said. She said the police asked her to compromise with the accused, but she refused to do so.

Even after a week, when the police did not register the case, the family complained about it to the SSP and the ADG zone after which the police registered a case of molestation instead of gang-rape on December 22, the family said. The next day on December 23, police booked a case against 12 people, including the girl's father and brother for assaulting the accused, the family said.

The family alleged that the police were shielding the accused under the pressure of Mahendra Pal Singh, the BJP MLA from Pipraich. But MLA Mahendra Pal Singh said that all the allegations being levelled against him are wrong. SP North Manoj Awasthi and SO Pipraich Suraj Singh ruled out gang-rape saying the accused molested the girl.