Horrifying visuals from Ujjain, which show a 15-year-old girl, semi-naked and bleeding after rape, going door to door for help, have sparked outrage
Ujjain: Horrifying visuals from Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, which show a 15-year-old girl, semi-naked and bleeding after rape, going door-to-door for help, have sparked outrage across the country. But 72 hours on, as new details in the case come to the fore, there are several mismatches in police statements and case documents. Police are also yet to make a breakthrough in finding the culprit.
1 Suspect, No Proof: An auto-rickshaw driver was questioned yesterday after cops scanned the CCTV footage from the locality where the teenager was seen seeking help but finding none. Police sources said they found blood stains in the auto-rickshaw, but no incriminating evidence linking the driver to the crime was found. Police have said they are still questioning people and looking at circumstantial evidence for more information.
The Prayagraj Theory: Ujjain police chief Sachin Sharma yesterday said that the girl could not tell her name and address. He had said her accent suggested she is from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, about 850 km away. The FIR, however, mentioned her name and her father’s name. A senior police officer has now told Media that the girl is from a district in Madhya Pradesh. She is a Class VIII student and stays with her grandfather and elder brother. She had gone missing on Sunday and her family had registered a missing complaint, the police officer said.
The Survivor’s Statement: Police had yesterday said the survivor was not able to tell them anything. But the FIR accessed by the NDTV has her detailed statement in which she narrates the brutality she suffered. According to the FIR, IPC sections relating to rape and provisions of the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were invoked on the basis of the survivor’s statement. This FIR was registered on Monday.
700 km Away From Home: According to the latest information, the girl is from a Madhya Pradesh district, more than 700 km from Ujjain, where she was found. Ujjain police chief Sachin Sharma said she left home on Sunday afternoon. “She left for Ujjain on Sunday afternoon. The travel time from her home district to Ujjain is about 12 hours. And this incident was reported the next morning. After arriving in Ujjain, she had been roaming the streets,” Mr Sharma said.
Fresh CCTV Footage: New CCTV footage that has emerged during the police probe shows the girl walking near Ujjain. She is dressed in school uniform. In one set of footage, timed at 3 am, she appears to be in school uniform. But hours later, she is spotted by CCTVs semi-naked and bleeding, suggesting that the crime happened early on Monday morning.
“Some People Helped”: Visuals of the girl going door-to-door seeking help but finding none had sparked massive outrage. One man was seen shooing her away as the girl, semi-naked and bleeding, approached him. Police officer Sharma, however, said it is not true that no one helped her. “There were mixed responses. Some people did help her, they gave her some money. A toll booth staff also helped her,” he said. Asked about the visuals that show the girl being shooed away, the police officer said, “Some people may have had reservations, but they did help her financially. She had ₹ 120 when we found her,” he said. The girl was rushed to hospital after a priest from a nearby ashram alerted police.
