A 65-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping two minor girls in Assam’s Jorhat district on Thursday, following which one of them died by suicide, police said.
According to the family members of the minors, the two girls had gone to collect mangoes from the accused’s house when he allegedly caught them, tied their hands, and sexually assaulted them.
“They initially did not tell us about the incident. Later, one of them died by suicide, after which the other girl revealed the matter and identified the accused,” family members alleged.
The families lodged a First Information Report (FIR) at the Teok police station on Friday, following which a case was registered against the accused.
The case was registered under multiple sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, along with relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including abetment of suicide, police said.
Police are awaiting the medical examination reports. “We have recorded the statement of one of the victims and she has undergone the mandatory medical examination. The body of the other girl has been sent for postmortem and once we receive both reports, the situation will become clearer,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Jorhat Subhrajyoti Bora said on Saturday.
Bora said that the charges were incorporated based on the allegations mentioned in the FIR, and provisions related to serious sexual assault as well as abetment of suicide were included. “We are thoroughly investigating the matter and cannot disclose certain details at this stage for the sake of the investigation process,” he added.
Residents staged a protest on Saturday demanding strict punishment for the accused. Police said he was produced before a court on Saturday and remanded to two days of police custody.
.
