Man Accused Of Raping Girl Found Innocent, Days After Distraught Father Killed Self

A man accused of raping an 8-year-old girl here has been found innocent after an SIT probe revealed that the allegations were false and motivated by personal rivalry, police said on Tuesday.

For the family of the man, Siddharth Tiwari, it was too late. His father died by suicide last week after all his efforts to convince the authorities of his son's innocence failed.

Based on the Special Investigation Team's (SIT) findings, the rape charges against Siddharth were dropped and he was granted bail by court on Monday.

The incident took place in Lohanda village under the Saini police station limits.

On May 28, a complaint was received from a resident, alleging that his daughter was sexually assaulted by Dhunnu alias Siddharth Tiwari. Based on the complaint, Siddharth was arrested on May 29, police said on Tuesday.

Later, police formed an SIT, led by Inspector Dhirendra Singh of Kadadham police station, amid protests from locals. The SIT found that Siddharth had only slapped the girl and she was not sexually assaulted. The complaint was exaggerated due to a personal rivalry, Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajesh Kumar said.

Following the SIT report, sections related to rape and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were removed from the FIR, and Siddharth was granted bail by the chief judicial magistrate's court on Monday, the SP said.

Days after Siddharth's arrest, things took a grim turn when his father, Rambabu Tiwari (50), a farmer, died by suicide on June 4 as his efforts to prove his son's innocence failed.

His death triggered protests in Lohanda, and angry locals blocked National Highway 2 on June 5. The protesters fought with police, who used force to disperse the crowd. Later, Rambabu's last rites were conducted amid tight security.

Police said they have registered a case against 10 named and 25-30 unidentified people in connection with the highway blockade and taken four into custody.

On a complaint by Siddharth's family, a separate case has been registered against five people, including village head Bhoop Narayan Pal, who is on the run. A reward of Rs 25,000 has been announced for anyone providing information leading to his arrest, police said.

SP Rajesh Kumar said three police officials -- Saini SHO Brijesh Karvariya, outpost in-charge Alok Rai, and investigating officer Krishnaswaroop Yadav -- have been suspended for negligence in handling the case. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)