Chanduali: A heart-wrenching incident has come to light in the Alinagar police station area of Chanduali district, Uttar Pradesh. The body of a six-year-old girl, who had been missing since Monday evening, was found on Tuesday morning, hidden in a pile of hay in the village. Eyewitnesses and the family have expressed apprehension that the child was brutally assaulted (raped) and then murdered.
The police have taken the body into custody and sent it for postmortem. Three suspects have been detained for questioning in connection with the case.
According to family members, the girl was returning home with her grandmother from her uncle's house around 8:30 PM on Monday night. On the way, the grandmother stopped to talk to an acquaintance, while the child walked ahead towards home. When she did not reach home for a long time, the family became worried and began searching for her.
After a night-long search yielded no results, the family members set out again on Tuesday morning to look for her. Just a short distance from their home, they found the girl's blood-stained clothes near a haystack. Biscuits, toffee, and gutka wrappers were also scattered nearby. Fearing the worst, they removed the hay and discovered the child's body, leading to chaos and grief in the family.
The victim's father, in a tearful voice, told The Mooknayak, "We last saw the girl in the evening around 7:30. When she didn't return, her mother told me to go find her and bring her back before we eat. But the girl wasn't found. It's been 3 days now, and the accused hasn't been caught."
Upon receiving information about the crime, Chanduali Superintendent of Police (SP) Aditya Langeh and Additional SP (ASP) Anant Chandrashekhar reached the spot with a police force and a forensic team. The forensic team collected blood-stained clothes, wrappers, and other evidence from the scene for investigation.
Taking immediate action, the police have detained three suspects who are currently being interrogated. The family has expressed suspicion towards a person from the same village regarding the crime.
Police officials have stated that clear signs of external injuries on the child's body are not immediately apparent. ASP Anant Chandrashekhar informed that the exact cause of death and confirmation of sexual assault will only be possible after the postmortem report is received. For now, a case has been registered against unknown persons and an investigation is underway.
Following this heinous crime, the district administration has also become active. Local MLA Ramesh Jaiswal, who is currently busy with the Bihar Assembly elections, gave strict instructions to officials over the phone. He demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits and stringent action.
On the MLA's directives, it has been announced that the victim's family will receive financial assistance of ₹10 lakhs under the Rani Laxmibai Mahila Samman Yojana. This amount will be transferred directly to the beneficiary's account (via DBT) within a week. Additionally, officials have been instructed to provide a permanent house under the Chief Minister's Housing Scheme if the family's current home is a kutcha structure.
Chanduali Youth Congress President Madhavendra Murti Ojha, who met the grieving family at their home, told The Mooknayak that the police have filed a chargesheet in the case and have detained three suspects. However, he claimed that these are suspects and the actual accused has not yet been arrested. He stated, "The local MLA is currently occupied with the Bihar elections. Such a major incident has occurred, and he hasn't even visited yet."
According to the latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), cases of sexual assault on minors registered in Uttar Pradesh are the highest in the country. As per the 2023 report, a total of 18,852 cases of crimes against children were registered in Uttar Pradesh, of which 38.2% were cases registered under the POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act).
In 2023, a total of 1,77,335 cases of crimes against children were registered across India, which included 67,694 cases under the POCSO Act. Notably, in Uttar Pradesh, 7,129 POCSO cases were registered in 2021 and 6,898 in 2020, which were the highest in the country.
In most cases registered under the POCSO Act involving sexual assault, the accused were known to the victims (family, neighbours, or friends). The crime rate against children in India in 2023 was 39.9 per one lakh child population. However, in Uttar Pradesh, this rate was slightly lower than the national average at 8.1 per lakh.
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