In a disturbing incident reported from Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, a 12-year-old bleeding girl was captured on CCTV asking for help from people, only to be dismissed. It has been confirmed by the police that the minor girl, who appeared partially clothed in the footage, was raped and was trying to seek aid from those in the vicinity. One resident could be seen shooing her away.
The girl was later found near an ashram in the locality and taken to the hospital. “The medical examination has confirmed rape. We have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and are closely following this. We appeal to the people to inform the police if they get any information,” Ujjain police chief Sachin Sharma said. The police said that the girl was unable to coherently communicate the details of the assault and that they have accessed the CCTV footage to gather more details.
A case of rape has been registered against an unidentified accused, invoking the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Sharma also said that a special team has been formed to identify and catch the culprits at the earliest.
The incident has sparked political controversy in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh as the Congress has raised questions over the law and order situation and crime against women under the BJP government.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath condemned the incident and demanded stringent punishment for the accused. He also demanded that the MP government should provide financial assistance of Rs one crore to the victim.
He took to social media platform X and wrote, “It is heart-wrenching to see a case of extremely cruel abuse of a small girl in Ujjain. The kind of rape that happened to a 12-year-old daughter and the way she ran around in many areas of the city in a semi-nude state and then fell unconscious on the road, puts humanity to shame. Such a heinous incident is a stain on the administration and society.”
With inputs from IANS