C'garh shelter home manager held for rape

The shelter home manager of Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district was arrested for allegedly raping an inmate, police said on Thursday.

The arrest was made two days after a complaint was filed in the police station. The 19-year-old victim, along with two other women who were recently shifted out of the shelter home, accused its staff of indulging in sexual and physical abuse of the inmates.

"The statements of the three women were recorded before a magistrate under section 164 of the CrPC on Thursday, during which one of them stated that she was raped by manager Jitendra Maurya," Bilaspur Superintendent of Police Prashant

Agrawal said.

Based on the statement, Maurya was arrested and further investigation into the matter is underway, he added.

Ujjwala Home Bilaspur, operated by NGO Shri Shivmangal Shikshan Samiti since 2014, landed in controversy on January 17 when a 20-year-old woman was allegedly disallowed from leaving the shelter even when her husband came to take her back home.

The woman who claimed that she was raped by Maurya, is a victim in a gang-rape case.

After their statements, section 376 (rape) and 354 (molestation) of the IPC were included in the case already registered against Maurya and shelter home staff on January 17, the SP said.