9-year-old girl sexually abused in Jharkhand shelter home; panchayat member held
Pushpa Rani Tirkey, an activist, said the girl has been sent to a childcare institute for counselling. An FIR has been lodged
A 50-year-old panchayat member has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl while shifting her to a relief camp set up for those evacuated in view of Cyclone Yaas in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district.
“A First Information Report has been lodged against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act,” said Ranjit Singh, a local police officer. He added the girl’s mother filed a written complaint in the case.
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Pushpa Rani Tirkey, an activist, said the girl has been sent to a childcare institute for counselling. “The [girl] told the police...that Sagar Pal shifted her grandparents and cousins to the shelter home ... Later he took her to the toilet behind the shelter home and sexually abused her late on Wednesday... When she cried, he took her into the car again saying that he would take her to her mother and aunt. But he made her sit in his lap while driving the car and sexually assaulted her again,” Tirkey said. She added the people have vacated the shelter home. “They were angry how such a thing could happen in a government shelter home. If girls and women are not safe in the shelter home, why should they stay there?”