A 17-year-old Class 10 student, who had been accused of raping a minor disabled girl, was found hanging from a tree in a Mahua orchard outside a village in Kaushambi district on Sunday morning. This discovery came a day after a case was registered against him under rape charges and the POCSO Act.
For representation only
According to police, the boy, a resident of the area under the Paschimsharira police station and a Class 10 student at an inter college in Bakarganj had been named in a complaint lodged on Saturday. The complaint was filed by the mother of a disabled minor girl living opposite his house. In her statement, the complainant alleged that the student had exploited her daughter, who has disabilities in her hands and legs, by promising to marry her. When the girl became pregnant and asked him to fulfill his promise, he allegedly refused, prompting the family to approach the police.
Following the registration of the case, police launched a search to arrest the accused and reportedly raided his home three times on Saturday night. Family members stated that the boy fled the house in fear of arrest and did not return.
On Sunday morning, villagers spotted his body hanging from a tree in a Mahua orchard outside the village. DSP (Kaushambi) Janardan Prasad Pandey, the Paschimsharira SHO, and a forensic team reached the spot. They conducted a preliminary inspection before sending the body for postmortem examination.
Speculation spread in the village over whether the teenager died by suicide or if he was murdered and his body later hung from the tree. The boy’s family also expressed suspicion of foul play.
DSP Pandey said, “The body of the person accused of raping a disabled teenager has been found hanging from a tree. The postmortem will help establish the cause of death. A thorough investigation is underway, and further action will be taken based on the facts that emerge.”