This Article is From Sep 05, 2013

6-year-old rape survivor ordered to marry 8-year-old son of alleged rapist

Jaipur: A caste council in Rajasthan has ordered the parents of a six-year-old rape survivor to get her married to the eight-year-old son of the man accused of the rape, police said on Thursday.

The incident occurred at Keshavpura in Kota, 250 km from Jaipur.

The 40-year-old man allegedly raped the girl who lives in his neighbourhood about a fortnight ago, police said.

"He locked her in a room and raped her. Instead of registering a police complaint, elders belonging to the girl's caste called a panchayat (village council) meeting," a police official said.

The panchayat ordered the girl's parents to get her married to the accused's minor son.

However, the girl's parents as well as the accused refused to accept the panchayat's decision.

And even as negotiations were going on between the girls' parents and the accused, he allegedly raped the girl again on Wednesday, police said.

Some social activists came to know about Wednesday's rape and brought the girl and her parents to Mahaveer Nagar police station in Kota and filed a complaint.

The man was arrested, and an investigation launched into the allegations against the panchayat members, said circle officer (city) Banwari Lal Meena.

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