Two booked for sexually assaulting 17-year-old dalit girl in UP’s Pilibhit

PILIBHIT: Following a written complaint by the survivor’s father, the police on Tuesday evening booked two men in their 20s, for allegedly sexually assaulting a 17-year-old dalit girl at a mobile shop in UP’s Pilibhit city.

According to the police, the two accused were employed at the same shop the victim was working at, and had been exerting pressure upon the survivor to maintain physical relations with them.

On May 18, when the shop owner was out of the shop at around 2pm, they grabbed the girl and abused her.

They also threatened to kill her if she disclosed the matter to anyone.

In the complaint, the victim’s father stated that his daughter, who is a student in class 11, was working at the shop for the past one and a half years. After the incident, she narrated the ordeal to her family.

Her father complained to the shop owner who reprimanded the two youths, who then threatened to kill him.

SHO Jagat Singh, said, “The two accused were booked under IPC sections 354A (use of criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage her modesty), 354B (use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe her), 352 (use of criminal force to any person otherwise than on grave and sudden provocation given by that person), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) and appropriate sections of POCSO and SC/ST Act. They are yet to be arrested.”

Meanwhile, the labour enforcement officer, Priyanka Verma, said that the employer of the minor girl was a defaulter of violating the labour laws prescribed in terms of employing an adolescent female worker, especially a student.

“An adolescent student can be employed by a businessman only under the valid permission of the labour enforcement officer.

Such permission is granted based on certain relaxations to the adolescent employee during working hours which will mandatorily exclude the employee’s school hours,” she said.

However, the victim’s mother claimed that her daughter had been made to work constantly between 10am and 8.30pm every day except the weekly closure day of the market.

 (The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault.)

Courtesy : TOI

Note: This news piece was originally published in timesofindia.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights