SURKHET, Sept 9: It has been found that a 14-year-old girl of Panchpuri Municipality of West Surkhet has been raped time and again. Police have arrested nine people on the chrgae of gang-raping the girl in a forest near the road to Tatopani on August 31.
The girl contacted the police on September 1, saying that she had been gang-raped. According to the police, the suspects were arrested on Monday on charges of a gang-rape and involvement in the rape. “The girl herself came to complain to the police after the gang-rape,” said Kanak Shahi, a police inspector at the District Police Office, Surkhet.
According to the police, the victim has no father and she was abandoned after her mother remarried. She has been living in her maternal uncle’s house and later left the home after she had a dispute with her aunt. According to the police, she was raped by a local named Prem Shahi on June 19 when she was working at various shops in the Panchpuri Bazaar area.
Two arrested on charge of rape
Since then, the girl was repeatedly raped by Shahi and his friends. According to the police, the girl was raped by Om Bahadur Darlami, Khagendra Shahi alias Sobha, Dambar Badi, Baburam Puri and Ganesh Badi.
“I could not file a complaint against the assailants right after the incident as they had given me death threats,” the girl said. However, after she was gang-raped, she went to the police and told them everything. “At first, the girl could not reveal the names of the rapists. But she told us she would recognize them,” Police Inspector Kanak Shahi said. “She managed to identify all the suspects after we arrested and brought them into custody.”
According to the police, the rapists have been caught earlier too while searching for the people involved in the gang rape. “The girl has given a statement that she was raped on different dates since June 19," said Inspector Shahi. Most of the arrested are bus drivers, co-drivers and employees at ticket counters. “They confessed to the crime in an initial statement," said Inspector Shahi. “Further investigation is underway.”
The victim is pregnant
Meanwhile, the police have handed the girl over to a rights organization. According to the health examination carried out by the organization, the girl is pregnant. Police, however, conducted a medical examination only on Wednesday. “We carried out her health check up on Wednesday. We can't say anything until we get the report,” said Inspector Shahi.
