Kanpur: A 17-year-old girl, who had complained to police last month that she was gang-raped by her neighbours, allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling of her cousin's house in Kanpur, police said on Saturday.
The girl had hanged herself on Friday night when her family members had gone outside, Superintendent of Police (Kanpur Dehat) Anurag Vats said.
She was abducted allegedly by Sunny Balmiki (19) and his uncle Lala Balmiki (26) on November 13, following which her parents complained to police. An FIR under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage) was registered, the officer said.
The girl returned home just a day after the police complaint was filed and told her parents that she was raped by Sunny and Lala. Her statement was also recorded by a court, Rura SHO Syed Mohammad Abbas said.
Following the girl's statement, police altered the case into that of gang-rape and slapped relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the accused on Friday and nabbed them, the SHO said.
However, the family alleges delay from the side of the police. "Our girl was upset as the rapists were roaming free in the village and often threatened us. No action was taken against the culprits and that is why we had sent our daughter to one of the relative’s house around a week back. The police didn’t arrest anyone till today only after our daughter died,” said a family member on the condition of anonymity.
"She (the victim) used to ask us over phone if anyone has been arrested yet and would start crying when we said no. Only if police had taken action on time and arrested the culprits, our daughter would have been alive," the family member added.
The police officer further said the girl was sent to her cousin's house in Chaubepur for proper counselling, where she took the extreme step on Friday night.
SP Anurag Vats has directed the officials concerned to take-up the matter seriously and make proper investigations.
Station Officer of Chaubepur, Rakesh Kumar Maurya, said the girl committed suicide on Friday night but police was informed on Saturday morning. No suicide note has been found, he added.
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