Main accused in the rape case of a 15-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain has been arrested
The main accused in the rape case of a 15-year-old girl, whose traumatic ordeal was captured on CCTV as she begged for help knocking from door to door, has been arrested from Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain. He tried to escape, but a police team caught him. He is an autorickshaw driver.
The police had taken the accused to the spot where he allegedly raped the minor to gather evidence. Sensing an opportunity, the accused ran from the police on reaching the spot. The police chased and managed to subdue him.
"Today, we reached the spot to... recover the clothes worn by the girl. Sensing an opportunity, Bharat Soni tried to escape. Police personnel chased and caught him. During this, he fell on a cemented road, injuring his arms and legs," inspector Ajay Kumar told reporters.
Superintendent of Police Sachin Sharma told NDTV they used technical surveillance and analysed CCTV footage to track down the main accused.
"The accused is from Ujjain. He saw the girl walking alone. She is yet to give a statement, is recovering in a hospital," Mr Sharma said.
The horrifying visuals from Ujjain, which show the 15-year-old girl, semi-naked, bleeding after rape and going door-to-door for help, has sparked outrage across the country.
An autorickshaw driver was questioned yesterday after the police scanned CCTV footage of the locality where the teenager was seen seeking help. The police said they found blood stains in the three-wheeler. Today, the police zeroed in on the autorickshaw driver.
The police said the survivor is stable after surgery, but they have not taken a statement yet since she is incoherent. She is unable to tell where she is from, who are her parents or any other relative, a police officer said. However, a complaint was already filed in another district of Madhya Pradesh after a girl went missing. Whether she is that same girl is under investigation. She has a grandmother and a brother.
CCTV footage show a man shooing away the young girl, who was half naked after the assault. She finally got help at an ashram, where a priest gave her his clothes and called the police. Twenty minutes later, the cops came, and she was rushed to a hospital.
Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have reported the highest number of cases of disappearance of women and girls between 2019 and 2021.
Also, Madhya Pradesh reported the most incidents of rapes in the country in 2021- 6,462 - as per the National Crime Records Bureau data. Out of them, more than 50 per cent were crimes against minors. The number translates to 18 rapes per day.
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