Youth held for abduction, rape

TT, Malda, Oct. 6:A youth was arrested from a Malda village this morning for allegedly abducting a 13-year-old girl last month, raping her for over five days and taking obscene video of the child.

The youth was accused of demanding a ransom of Rs 1.5 lakh from the girl’s family and blackmailing the child saying he would put up the video on the internet if she informed the police.

The girl was brought back home on October 3 and yesterday, she lodged a complaint.

Police sources said on September 27 when the Class VII girl was returning home, her neighbour Nur Alam, 23, intercepted her, dragged her into a car and sped away.

“The girl has said in her complaint that she was taken to Farakka, around 70km away in the neighbouring Murshidabad district, and dumped in a deserted house. For the next few days, Alam raped and tortured her. He also recorded indecent video of her and blackmailed her,” said an officer.

From the next day, Alam allegedly started calling up the girl’s family members from different phone numbers and asked for Rs 1.5 lakh as ransom.

“I got calls from unknown numbers and I was asked to pay up. The caller claimed that my daughter is with him,” said the girl’s father.

On October 3, Alam took the girl to Chanchal bus stand and left her there.

“I was worried about my daughter’s safety as I was not being able to arrange for the money to pay the ransom. On October 3, an acquaintance spotted my daughter and informed me. I brought her home. After the return, she told us about her plight and mentioned Alam’s name,” said the father, a daily wage labourer. “Yesterday, she filed the complaint with the police. Later, we came to know that Alam has been arrested. We want exemplary punishment for him,” he said.

The inspector in-charge of the police station where the girl had lodged the complaint said: “The youth has raped and tortured the girl. He has also recorded objectionable video and blackmailed her. We have registered a case and are carrying out an investigation. The youth would be interrogated in due course. We will also speak to the girl.”

Alam is likely to be produced in court tomorrow. The youth has denied the allegations and said he was in a relationship with the girl. “I had a relationship with her for many years. I don’t know why she is raising the allegations,” he said.