Minor alleges rape two years ago in Jammu, demands justice

A 14-year-old girl, carrying a baby in her arms which she alleged was born a year ago out of rape, today appeared before the media at the press club here demanding justice for her and the child.

Accompanied by her father, the minor girl alleged she was raped by a 28-year-old man, who is from "an affluent family and enjoys political patronage", and said nobody is listening to the poor family.

We knocked the door of the local police station and police's higher-ups but justice eluded us so far, the girl, holding the one-year-old child in her lap, said.

The claim is denied by the police.

Station House Officer of Basohli police station Sukhbir Singh said the accused got bail from a court and later his DNA test did not match with the child.

The girl belongs to Kathua district, which has been in the news for the past few weeks after an eight-year-old girl was brutally raped and killed.

The girl's father said he came to know about the alleged rape of her daughter eight months after the incident when she fell sick and was taken to a doctor for checkup.

After being informed that she was pregnant, we lodged an FIR," he said. The girl's father said his daughter told him she was allegedly raped by the man, who also warned her against disclosing the incident to anybody.

"However, the accused evaded arrest and later sought bail from the court, he said, adding "the 28-year-old belongs to an affluent family and enjoys political patronage".

The girl was also carrying a copy of the writ petition the accused had filed before the High Court in June last year in which he claimed he was being falsely implicated in the rape case and demanded quashing of the FIR against him.

He also demanded a DNA sample test of the minor girl and the child to prove his innocence. The DNA test was conducted but it was fudged to save the accused, the father of the girl claimed.

He alleged that he was offered money to stay silent. "But I don't need money but justice for my daughter and her child.

However, when contacted, Basohli police station SHO Sukhbir Singh said, There was no question of any wrongdoing on our part. Soon after a case was registered against the accused, we tried to arrest him. But he later moved to the court and we were directed not to arrest him until the DNA report is received,