Chhattisgarh: Minor girl student raped in school hostel in Sukma district

A minor girl was allegedly raped by an unidentified man in the hostel of a residential school in Chhattisgarh’s tribal-dominated Sukma district, an official in Raipur said on Tuesday (July 25). Chhattisgarh Police has formed an eight-member team to crack the case.

Citing preliminary information, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran G Chavan said, “The incident took place on the night of July 22 when the girl was in the hostel of a porta cabin school within the limits of the Errabor Police Station area.” A case was registered on Monday (July 24) after a complaint was received in this regard.

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Porta cabins are pre-fabricated structure residential schools set up in the left wing extremism-affected villages of the state’s Bastar division, which includes the Sukma district.

The SP said the Class 1 student, aged 6–7 years, narrated the alleged crime to her parents on Sunday, following which it was reported to the hostel superintendent.

After a police complaint was filed the next day, a case was registered under sections 376 AB (rape on a woman under 12 years of age), 456 (house trespass), 363 (kidnapping) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Chavan said.

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The police have constituted an eight-member team headed by Sukma Additional Superintendent of Police Gaurav Mandal to probe the alleged rape. The probe team also includes Deputy Superintendent of Police (Special Juvenile Police Unit Sukma) Parul Khandelwal, Chavan said.

A medical examination of the minor victim has been conducted and efforts are on to identify the accused, he added.

(With agency inputs)