Bihar girl resists village pressure to sell kid born after her rape

UZAFFARPUR/PATNA: A 15-year-old rape survivor is running from pillar to post for justice in Muzaffarpur district after a village committee ordered her to sell off her month-old infant born as a result of the rape and offered her Rs 20,000 as compensation for the crime.
The minor was allegedly repeatedly raped by a maulvi and another staffer of a mosque and an FIR was lodged on July 3, but no action has been taken so far.
On Sunday, the survivor along with her mother met senior district police officers seeking their help. Muzaffarpur SSP Jayant Kant, who assumed charge last Thursday, said, "The matter has come to my knowledge. Justice will be done to the victim."
The SSP said a special police team led by City SP (East) has been set up to ensure the arrest of the accused at the earliest. "No lapses on the part of the investigating officers will be tolerated," Kant added.
The SHO of the women's police station, Savita Devi said, "The accused have been booked under relevant sections of IPC and also under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. An FIR was lodged on the basis of the victim's statement and raids are on to nab the culprits."
Though the FIR was lodged by the survivor on July 3, no action was taken against the perpetrators. Maulana Maqbool and Mohammad Shoaib, who worked as an electrician at a mosque in Katra police station area, were accused of repeatedly raping the minor girl.
According to the FIR, the girl's ordeal began in January when Maqbool raped her while she had gone to serve him food inside the place of worship. "Like other residents of the village I too was asked to serve lunch and dinner to the Maulvi. One day he raped me and also made a video of the incident," she told the police.
Since then the minor girl was repeatedly raped by the maulvi.
Survivor demands DNA test
She couldn't muster courage to open her mouth as Maqbool had reportedly threatened her with dire consequences. "When Mohammad Shoaib, an electrician at the mosque, came to know about the matter, he too started sexually exploiting me. It continued till May when I came to know about my pregnancy in advance stage," the survivor told the investigators.
The survivor's family first approached the village mosque committee. The mukhiya of Katra panchayat Arun Kumar said, "The family had met me earlier. I had suggested the family to seek help of the police as such crimes can't be settled by the panchyat functionaries. Instead the family decided to approach the village mosque committee."
The mosque committee ordered it to sell off the infant and also offered Rs 20,000 as compensation. "The issue of the minor girl's rape had been raging in the community for long and several meetings were held to settle the issue," Mohammad Sadre, a member of the Katra mosque committee, said.
He, however, admitted that a family from Tajpur in neighbouring Samastipur district was willing to buy the child for Rs 1 lakh. "What happened with the rape survivor and where the child is, I am not aware of it," he told TOI over phone.
Meanwhile, the rape survivor has demanded DNA test to confirm the biological father of the child. Taking note of the incident, the state women commission has decided to send a team from Patna to Muzaffarpur to inquire into the matter.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)