BHOPAL: The Narsinghpur district police on Thursday arrested a cook of the local police for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl in the Madhya Pradesh district earlier this week.
The incident took place when the minor girl, a nomadic tribal, was asleep with her parents inside their tent. The 24-year-old accused identified as Santosh Markam reportedly entered the tent and kidnapped the girl. He took the minor half a kilometre away and abandoned her there after committing the heinous crime.
The girl's, mother who woke up at 2.30 am on Tuesday, was shocked to find her daughter missing. She along with her husband went to the local police station to report the matter. However, the couple was shocked when the on-duty head constable instead of filing the complaint asked them to look for their girl on their own.
The parents who were frantically looking for their daughter were told by a passerby about a little girl lying unconscious. The girl turned out to be their daughter.
“We first suspended the on-duty head constable for dereliction of duty in the case and then started scanning the CCTV footage retrieved from cameras installed between the tent where the minor was living with parents and the spot, where she was found abandoned. Two of our constables recognized the accused seen in the footage as a 6th Battalion Special Armed Force (SAF) jawan who is a cook presently deployed in the district police lines,” Narsinghpur district police superintendent Gurukaran Singh told The New Indian Express on Friday.
The concerned state police cook Markam was subsequently detained for questioning, during which he admitted to kidnapping and sexually assaulting the minor. He was arrested on Thursday and sent into judicial custody.
“We’ve gathered sufficient evidence for his prosecution and conviction. The district judge has been requested to fast track the hearing in the matter,” said Singh.
Irate mob attacks rape accused, 4 cops injured
In Sidhi district of the state, a police team from Majhauli police station, which went to arrest a rape accused Saddam Khan, hiding in his relative's house was attacked by a mob of villagers on Thursday evening. A sub-inspector and three constables were injured in the incident.
A case has been lodged against nine villagers and their aides, but no arrests have so far been made. The sub-inspector who suffered a head injury is now out of danger.