Victim’s minor brother booked under Goonda Act

: The Kanpur Dehat police slapped Goonda Act on the minor brother of a 17-yearold girl who consumed poison after months of alleged harassment by a youth in Rajpur town in Kanpur Dehat.

After her suicide bid two days ago, the girl is battling for life at the LLR hospital in Kanpur.

It has emerged that when she approached the police in December, 2021, to report her harassment, the police booked her minor brother, a Class 9 student, under Goonda Act on January 26, 2022, allegedly to pressurise her family not to pursue the case against the accused Ramu Mishra, 20. The girl’s mother said the station officer, Kapil Mishra, was regularly building pressure on her family for a compromise. “He even threatened to lodge a counter-FIR against my daughter and other family members,” she said at the hospital. “My son had to furnish a bond in the sub-divisional magistrate’s (SDM) court. The police had mentioned him as a threat to society,” she added.

The accused, who lives near the woman’s house, had been stalking her daughter for long. In September 2021, he even got hold of the girl publicly, after which the family decided to go to the police.

“For more than two months, we kept approaching the police, but the case was not registered,” alleged the girl’s mother. The accused was emboldened and continued to stalk the girl. Subsequently, the family met SP (Kanpur Dehat) who ordered registration of an FIR against the accused in December. The case was registered with the Rajpur police under sections 323, 504, 506 and 354 of the IPC.

“Thereafter, all hell broke loose. After the police booked my son under Goonda act, we became apprehensive and decided to go to Noida where we stayed for two months,” stated the girl’s mother. “We returned to our village thinking that things might have changed. But the harassment began again,” she said.

On April 1, the accused allegedly called the girl’s father and threatened him with dire consequences. “The issue is in the knowledge of police and stern action would be initiated against whosoever is involved,” said ADG (Kanpur zone) Bhanu Bhaskar.

SP (Kanpur Dehat) Swapnil Mamgain asked circle officer Secundara to investigate the case against the minor boy under Goonda act. Senior lawyer Shailesh Singh Parihar said: “Apart from the police, why did the SDM not check the age-related records? Secondly, a minor cannot be asked to furnish a bond as per law. The role of the SDM should also be investigated who only went by police report.”

THE GIRL’S MOTHER SAID THE S.O WAS BUILDING PRESSURE ON HER FAMILY FOR A COMPROMISE.