Indian cop on rape charge

New Delhi – An Indian police officer has been arrested after being accused of raping a 13-yearold girl who went to his station to report she had been gang-raped.

The alleged incident is the latest to spotlight the high levels of sexual violence in the world’s largest democracy, where a woman is raped every 18 minutes on average.

The girl is also a member of India’s Dalit community, which has long suffered from marginalisation and violence at the hands of higher castes.

According to her father, she was gang-raped by four men last month over several days. But when she attempted to file a complaint last week, the station house officer in charge raped her, according to a NGO now providing her with counselling.

Police said the officer was arrested on Wednesday along with four other people and the girl’s aunt, who was reportedly inside the station when she was attacked.

Twenty-nine other officials present at the police station in Uttar Pradesh at the time of the alleged assault have been suspended from duty.

News of the incident triggered outrage on Indian social media. “If police stations are not safe for women, then where will they go to complain?” tweeted a senior member of Congress party. –