12-yr-old F’bad girl rescued after being ‘sold’ in Nuh, 3 held

GURUGRAM: Three persons, including a woman, were arrested for allegedly facilitating the marriage of a minor girl who was allegedly sold to an elderly man from another religion of Sigaar village in Nuh district.

One of the accused was also arrested for attempting to rape the 12-year-old girl. The police said the accused was known to the woman, who sold the girl to the 65-year-old man.

A case under the sections 17 and 18 of the Pocso Act, and sections 323 (voluntary causing hurt), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 372 (selling minor for purposes of prostitution), and 373 (buying minor for purposes of prostitution) of the IPC was registered at the Bicchor police station against the accused.

The victim, who belongs to a poor family living in Faridabad, had left her home on April 4 after she was reprimanded by her mother. The police rescued her from Sigaar village on Sunday and arrested the trio including the woman, elderly man, and a man who attempted to rape her.

The police said that the elderly man from Sigaar village had bought the girl for Rs 40,000 from a woman who accosted the girl at a railway station near Mathura. All the accused are from Sigaar village.

“We had received a complaint that a girl who had been missing from Faridabad had been taken to Sigaar and was sold to an elderly man. Immediately, a team was formed to conduct a raid and the minor girl was rescued. Five persons have been booked for various offences including changing her name and forcing to accept another religion,” said Ashok Kumar, deputy superintendent of police, Punhana.

“The victim told us that she was accosted by the woman at a railway station near Mathura a month back,” he said.

The police, meanwhile, said they are conducting raids to arrest the other two accused so the entire chain of events becomes clear.

“The girl is in shock and suffering from trauma. More information will be revealed once she becomes better,” Kumar said.