Three more rape cases were reported from different parts of the country on Tuesday. The gruesome incidents came to light just five days after the gang rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Telengana.
The three incidents were reported from Karnataka, Bihar and Rajasthan.
In Karnataka, a nine-year-old was raped and strangled to death by a 34-year-old man at a village in Kalaburagi district.
In Bihar, a girl was shot dead and burnt after being allegedly raped in Kukudha village in Buxar district. Police have not ascertained the age of the victim.
In Rajasthan, a 11-year-old girl was raped by her 37-year-old relative in Jhalwar district. The police have arrested the rapist.
A Telangana veterinarian was burnt to death after she was gang raped by four men on November 27. Her body was dumped under the culvert at Shadnagar of Telangana on November 28 morning.
All the four men - including a truck driver and three cleaners- involved in the murder were arrested on November 29.
Karnataka girl went missing on Monday
The girl, who was raped and murdered in Kalaburagi, went missing on Monday evening after she went out to play with her friends.
Her blood-stained naked body was found in the field near a pond on the outskirts of the village on Monday night, police said.
A 34-year-old tailor, identified as Yallappa Mahadevappa Sedam, with whom the girl was allegedly last seen, has been arrested, police said.
"The man had lured the girl to eat a packaged snack and then took her to the field where he allegedly perpetrated the crime," a senior police official at Sulepet police station said.
Following the incident, protests erupted in Sulepet on Tuesday, where hundreds of people hit the road, holding aloft placards and raising slogans, demanding capital punishment to the alleged rapist.
A large number of school girls also staged a sit-in demonstration on the road, blocking vehicular movement.
While schools in the village were closed in view of the protests, police made elaborate security arrangements to prevent any untoward incident.
The Superintendent of Police Iada Martin Marbaniang has been camping in the village.
Buxar girl's body found on a field
Police recovered the charred body of the Buxar girl on Tuesday from a deserted field under the jurisdiction of Itadhi police station, Buxar Deputy Superintendent of Police Satish Kumar said.
Buxar is around 100 km from the capital Patna.
"After being informed by people police recovered the body of a girl who was burnt above her waist", the Dy SP said adding it appears she was raped before being murdered. The DySP said the incident may have occurred on Monday night.
The officer said the identity and age of the victim were yet to be ascertained.
"Whether the girl is a minor or major will be clear once the post-mortem report comes," he added.
Itadhi police station officials told PTI that the girl was allegedly raped and shot dead by the perpetrators before being burnt with the intention to destroy the evidence.
The victim was shot one bullet in her head, they said adding police have recovered an empty cartridge from the spot.
Hundreds of villagers gathered at the spot in the morning but none of them could identify the girl as she was badly burnt above waist, police sources said.
Efforts to contact District Superintendent of Police Upendra Nath Verma turned futile as he did pick the phone call.
Relative arrested for Rajasthan girl's rape
A 37-year-old man has been arrested for raping a 11-year-old girl, who is his relative, in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district.
The accused allegedly raped the girl at her home on Sunday night, when her family members were asleep. He then threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone about the incident, Sub-Inspector, Pedawa police station, Rajkumar said.
The Class 11 student gathered up courage and on Monday morning narrated the incident to one of her teachers at school who advised her to lodge a police complaint in this matter, the SI said.
The accused used to frequently visit the survivor's home. She lost her mother a few years ago and lives with her father and grandmother, the SI said citing the complaint.
The girl also alleged that she had also been raped by the man in the past, he said.
A case was registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the girl was sent for medical examination, the officer said.
NHRC takes note
Expressing serious concern over incidents of sexual violence against women, the National Human Rights Commission on Monday issued notices to the Centre and all states and UTs seeking reports on the standard operating procedures to deal with such cases and use of the Nirbhaya Fund.
The Commission observed that the largest democracy in the world, which has adopted the longest written constitution and has a rich cultural heritage of gender equality, is today being criticised for having the "most unsafe environment for women".
Meanwhile, taking a serious view of some news channels and social media sites disclosing the identity of a 22-year-old woman veterinarian, who was raped and murdered near here, besides airing images of the accused, the police have issued notices to them with a direction to stop it.
(With PTI inputs.)
