Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh: The state of Uttar Pradesh has seen a recent surge of rape cases in the recent past. Their neighbour to the south, Madhya Pradesh, is also seeing a similar trend as three cases of rape were reported from Ujjain, Bhopal and Jabalpur in three days. Madhya Pradesh has a dubious distinction in crime against women. As per the data of Madhya Pradesh police rapes are steadily rising in the state. The state in 2017 registered 5,148 rape cases, 4,882 cases in 2016, and in 2015, 4319 rape cases were registered.

A five-year-old Dalit girl child was abducted, raped and murdered on Friday (June 7), by a 19-year-old youth whom she knew and referred to as uncle, in Ujjain. One Shiva Rao Maratha abducted the girl on June 6 who used to live near her shanty.

Following the incident, the father of the victim, a brick kiln worker, had lodged a complaint with the police on June 7 stating that her daughter was missing since the early morning of June 6. It was in the afternoon on the same day that the disfigured body of the victim was found floating in the holy river Kshipra.

Sachin Atulkar, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Ujjain, said, “A special investigation led by additional SP Neeraj Pandey was formed, and an intensive search operation was carried out, and the body was rescued.”

The girl had gone to sleep with her parents and two other siblings. It was her father who noticed the girl is missing. The father works at a brick kiln located on the banks of river Kshipra near temple of Bhukhi Mata. With meagre pay in hands, he used to live in a hut that did not have doors to close at night.

Shiva used to work at a flower vending shop near the much revered Mahakaleshwar temple, was already preying on the girl and abducted her while she was sleeping. In his confession, Shiva said that when he left for home at around 3 am on June 7, instead of going to his house, he went to the victim’s hut and lifted her in her sleep. He ventured into the shanty fearlessly as did not have any fixed doors. He silently moved the makeshift arrangement made by the family to shut the entrance and lifted the girl. He said the victim did not move when he lifted her, and then took her to a nearby field, where he raped her and then bludgeoned her to death with a brick. He had gagged the girl so that she couldn’t cry.

“The post-mortem report said the girl suffered internal bleeding, genital mutilation and the cause of death of blow to the head,” said Sachin Atulkar.

The girl was already dead due to bludgeoning with a brick and was thrown in the river later to hide the evidence. A case under Sections 449 (trespass), 376 (8) (rape), 366 (kidnapping), 302 (murder), of the IPC, POSCO and Prevention of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) was registered against the accused. The accused was produced in a local court where the judge ordered a 14-day judicial remand.

The SP said that action was swift and two additional SPs, four DSPs and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team was put into the investigation. “It was only due to the swift action that we were able to crack the case in 48 hours and we are trying to complete the investigation at earliest so that trial could begin in a week,” he added.

The incident sparked widespread protests in the city with several humanitarian groups resorting to dharna demanding fast track trial and maximum punishment for the accused. Police had to deal with attackers especially those belonging to Bajrang Dal who had planned to thrash the accused while he was on his way to court, police used diversion tactics by separating vehicles and law enforcement officers in two groups to safely take the accused to the courtroom and then back to jail.

Another gruesome rerun in Bhopal, a Class 3 student raped and strangulated

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: A nine-year-old girl was raped and murdered in Mandva Basti of Nehru Nagar in Bhopal on Saturday. Her scratched body was found in a local nullah (a small stream) in the wee hours of Sunday. Bhopal IGP Yogesh Deshmukh on Monday arrested 35-year-old Vishnu Prasad, the accused. The Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission has sought a reply from MP Police regarding the incident within a month.

The victim, a student of standard three, had left her home to fetch pan masala for her father. She even came back with the pan masala and gave it to her father at around 9 am and then once again went outside. The accused Vishnu Prasad lured her by offering to buy pan masala for her mother and took her a secluded place where he raped her before strangulating her to death. He dumped the body in the nullah and ran away. Police sources said that rope marks were seen on her hand as if she was tied and then the accused forced himself upon her.

The victim’s family alleged police apathy in the case and claimed that the staff at Kamla Nagar Police Station did not act timely on their complaint and did not register a missing complaint. Seven policemen, including an officer, were suspended for negligence. The girl had gone missing from 9 am on Saturday, and her body was found at 5 am on the morning of Sunday. The locals of Maandva Basti protested in the night, which according to the family, propelled the investigation.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh attended the last rites of the victim. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Pragya Thakur too reached out to the family of the victim demanding capital punishment for the accused. Chief minister Kamal Nath took to Twitter to announce his condolences while stating that the accused will get punishment at the earliest. The government has announced Rs 5 lakh as aid to the families of victims in Ujjain and Bhopal. The police have said that they will produce the chargesheet within 48 hours.

Following the incident, BJP demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Kamal Nath. A BJP delegation led by MP Pragya Thakur submitted a memorandum to governor Anandiben Patel over the deteriorating law and order condition in the state. BJP announced a “Jan Aakrosh” (public outrage) candle march in the state capital on June 10, led by hundreds of children. Former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and leader of opposition Gopal Bhargava are likely to participate.

Four-year-old raped in Jabalpur

Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh: On Sunday, a four-year-old girl was raped in Barhi village of Jabalpur district by a 16-year-old minor. The boy picked up the girl at around 12.30 in the afternoon while she was playing in her home and then forced himself on the infant in an empty house nearby. He was caught off-guard by the shrieks of the child after which he left her and ran away. As he was running away, he was caught by villagers and was handed over to the police. The victim is under treatment after sustaining severe internal injuries. The government in a release said that it would bear the expenses of the child’s treatment.

CM Kamal Nath on Monday, said “The rape incidents at different places of the state are painful. Police have been asked to deal with the situation with iron hands. We will try to get maximum punishment to the accused within a month.”

Madhya Pradesh has a dubious distinction in crime against women. As per the data of Madhya Pradesh police rapes are steadily rising in the state. The state in 2017 registered 5,148 rape cases, 4,882 cases in 2016, and in 2015, 4319 rape cases were registered.