4 Arrested for Rape, Murder of Minor Girl in Bihar’s Banka; Locals Demand Action

The Chanan police has registered a case on the written application of the deceased girl's uncle Uttam Kumar.

Locals in Banka district took to the streets on Monday, 21 March, demanding the immediate arrest and capital punishment for the accused in the rape case.

(Photo: The Quint Hindi)

An 8-year-old girl was gangraped and murdered in Banka district in Bihar on Holi, Monday, 21 March.

Two days after the incident, Belhar SDPO Prem Chandra Singh said on Monday, 21 March that four people have been arrested and further search is underway. The body of the minor has been sent for post-mortem, he told ANI.

The police have arrested rikshaw driver Doman Paswan and his wife, Ajay Varnwal and Shridhar Varnwal. Another accused named Sagar Soni, a rikshaw owner, is on the run.

Locals in the district took to the streets, on Monday, demanding the immediate arrest and capital punishment for the accused and also against the lax behaviour of the police regarding the case.

The Chanan police has also registered a case on the written application of the deceased girl's uncle Uttam Kumar.

Police Blamed for Lax Behaviour  

Kumar claimed that the police asked the family members to look in the house. They will start investigations later.

Relatives of the victim allege that the girl could have been saved if the police had started investigations since her disappearance.

SDPO Premchandra Singh said that he has been personally overseeing the investigation since he came to know of the incident. He said that four have been arrested so far and said that whoever is involved will not be spared.

The Background

The deceased minor girl was playing with her friends outside her house during Holi celebrations went she went missing at around 2 pm. Following this, family members started a search in the afternoon itself.

The police was informed of the missing girl during the search but relatives allege that instead of taking any action, the police asked the family members to search for the girl alongside them.

Meanwhile, family members were informed by another girl, who was playing with the victim, that she was taken to the Durga temple in a red-colored rikshaw.

Family members then inquired about that rikshaw person’s address.

When relatives reached the house, Sagar Soni, who works as a painter with the person in the rikshaw, denied his involvement.

However, he said others had also seen the accused take the girl away in the auto. The rikshaw driver, upon noticing the increasing crowd outside his house, had fled the scene.

During the search, the family found the body of the girl covered with sand in a drain-like cave located next to the railway station at around 11 pm. Her eyes were gauged out, had blood on various parts of the body and was strangled to death. The police was informed who then recovered the body.

The police had arrested the wife of the auto driver for interrogation. At the behest of the same, three others were arrested.