10-year-old rape victim goes missing

“Since yesterday,one of my brothers is missing,” his 12-year-old sister has told the police. “We don’t know where to look.” The family has been facing problems ever since they approached the police,she said. “We have not gone to school. The four boys accused used to come threaten us,warning us not to name them.”

Alleging that the Station House Officer of the Prasad Nagar had not investigated the case properly,the family had met the former Delhi Police Commissioner,Y S Dadwal,to get the investigation transferred to the Crime Branch. “Since I had no alternative,I made a PCR call last night after my son went missing,” said the boy’s mother. “The police responded promptly but they are yet to trace my son.”

The incident came to light on September 17,when Subhash Nagar,a Congress worker and neighbour of the family,persuaded the mother to lodge a complaint with the police. On December 15,a chargesheet was filed against the cab driver,Ratawal,and the four boys.

Police said Ratawal,a father of two,would take the children to a rented room in Karol Bagh,where the others waited. He also abused the children in his own home when his wife and children were not around.