Bhopal: A day after the video of a 12-year-old rape victim walking the streets of Ujjain in torn clothes, with bloodstains on her, went viral, the girl has been identified as a resident of Satna, another Madhya Pradesh district. The police Thursday also arrested an auto driver, Bharat Soni, the main accused. Swabs have been taken from him for a medical examination, said police sources.
The girl allegedly did not return home after leaving for school on 24 September. In his police complaint the next day, the girl’s 59-year old grandfather said, “When I left to graze the goats at around 10 am, my granddaughter was home but she wasn’t there when I returned at 6 pm. We asked around, but she was nowhere to be found. She is of mentally unsound mind and cannot even pronounce the name of our village.” ThePrint has accessed a copy of the complaint.
The family comprises the girl, her brother, their father, who is also understood to be of unsound mind, and the grandfather who runs the household, said police sources.
Addressing the media Thursday, Additional Superintendent of Police, Satna, Shivesh Singh Baghel, said: “After her family’s complaint, an advertisement was issued and a prize money was also announced in exchange for her whereabouts. It was only after the Ujjain incident was reported in the newspapers and the description matched with that of the missing girl that a police team accompanied by the family was sent to the Mahakal Police Station in Ujjain.”
While initially an auto driver was detained on suspicion, and some bloodstains recovered from his vehicle, Ujjain Superintendent of Police, Sachin Sharma said Thursday to ThePrint, “Following investigations based on technical evidence, we have detained five more people — three auto drivers and two other people who were seen interacting with the girl and were around the place of the crime.”
According to the police, during their search at various bus and auto stands of Ujjain, they learnt that an auto driver named Bharat, who had the word “Arjun” written on his auto rickshaw, had taken a girl with him.
The police subsequently detained Bharat Soni Thursday and during questioning, he accepted having committed the crime. However, when Soni was being taken to the crime scene, he tried to escape and pelted the police with stones, said the police. He was chased and captured, but in his attempt to escape, he fell and injured his leg.
Soni has previous cases against him, including one registered at Ujjain’s Madhav Nagar police station in 2019 under Indian Penal Code’s (IPC) sections 279 for rash driving and 337 for causing hurt by endangering life or personal safety of others. More recently, another case was registered against him in 2022 at Nanakheda police station under section 294 for indulging in obscene acts or songs, 323 for voluntarily causing hurt, 506 for criminal intimidation, and 34 for common intention.
Requesting anonymity, an officer told ThePrint that the auto driver first detained, Rakesh Malviya, had accepted dropping the girl at Shanti Palace, a banquet hall in Ujjain. Malviya is being booked for not informing the police about the incident under section 166-A of the IPC.
Speaking to the media Thursday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, said: “The criminal who committed a heinous crime against a daughter of Madhya Pradesh has been caught. He’s from Ujjain itself. Now we will leave no stone unturned to ensure he receives the harshest punishment. Such criminals do not deserve to live in society. He has injured the very soul of Madhya Pradesh.”
उज्जैन में मासूम बिटिया के साथ जघन्य अपराध करने वाला अपराधी पकड़ा गया है। अब इस दरिंदे को कठोरतम दंड दिलाने में हम कोई कसर नहीं छोड़ेंगे।
इस तरह के अपराधी समाज में रहने के लायक नहीं हैं। उसने मध्यप्रदेश की आत्मा को घायल किया है।
बेटी की हम हर तरह से चिंता करेंगे, वह मध्यप्रदेश… pic.twitter.com/xECmaCvDDZ
— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) September 28, 2023
Police investigation showed that the girl had boarded Shipra Express from Satna on 24 September at 11 am and reached Ujjain the same evening at around 11 pm. Outside the railway station, she took an auto and was dropped at a bus stand. From there, she changed three autos to finally reach Shanti Palace in Ujjain.
Once in Shanti Palace, the girl walked about eight kilometers on Badnagar road when she was captured on CCTV footage reaching out to people and being turned away.
SP Sharma said some people believed her to be a ragpicker. A worker at the local Dandi Ashram, Rahul Sharma, saw her near the gate at about 9.25 am. He clothed her, fed her and informed the police.
The girl was given preliminary treatment and eventually taken to Indore’s MY hospital where she underwent surgery for internal injuries.
This report has been updated to reflect the latest developments
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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