Maharashtra: 16-year-old gang-rape victim dies of illness in Nagpur

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A 16-year-old girl who was reportedly gang-raped in November 2021 has died after prolonged illness, a police official said on Monday, reported the PTI.

She was gang-raped at knife-point, after which eight persons, including her alleged boyfriend, were arrested, the MIDC police station official said, as per the PTI.

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A chargesheet was filed within 60 days and the case was being heard in a fast-track court, he said.

Sources said the girl, who lost her father and is estranged from her mother, was in a correctional home where she developed some ailment two months ago.

She returned home and died on December 5, the official added.

She was also distressed after being allegedly threatened on the court premises in January this year, sources said.

Meanwhile, in an another incident in November, a history-sheeter has been arrested after he allegedly sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl, singed her with cigarette butts and tonsured her head in Akola city of Maharashtra, police said on Monday, reported the PTI.

The suspect identified as Ganesh Kumre, 29 had been reportedly harassing the girl for the past two years, an officer said, as per the PTI.

"The suspect is a local goon in Khadan area of Akola. He sexually assaulted the girl on November 15 and 16, tortured her with cigarette butts and also cut her hair," the officer said quoting the First Information Report, according to the PTI.

Taking serious note of the ghastly crime, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who handles the Home portfolio, has assured strict action, the news agency reported on Monday.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur on Monday, he said that the guilty will not be spared and that orders have been given to launch an inquiry into the incident.

According to the Akola Police, the victim's father works as a labourer.

"The accused has a criminal background. He has been harassing the girl for the last two years," the official said, reported the PTI.

Notably, the incident of sexual assault came to light after November 16 when local people approached the police against Kumre.

A case was registered under sections 363 (Punishment for kidnapping), 376 (Punishment for rape), 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and on charges of causing hurt with dangerous weapons among others of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, a police official said.

Kumre was arrested on November 18. He was remanded in police custody till November 21, he said.

PTI