A minor girl was allegedly raped by a young man who had come to attend a wedding in a village under Antu police station area of Pratapgarh. The incident was reported on Friday. One person has been arrested in this connection. According to the police,the 14-year-old girl,of Sadhopur village,was attending the marriage of her relative. The wedding party had come from a village near Lalganj on Thursday evening. Early Friday morning,the girl had gone to ease herself near the river,when three young men caught her. One of them then allegedly raped her. The victim managed to raise an alarm,which alerted other villagers. Two of the accused escaped on motorcycle. The third accused,later identified as Brijesh,was caught and handed over to the police. An FIR alleging rape was registered on the basis of the complaint lodged by the victims father. The girl was sent for medical examination and the report was awaited,the police said. Circle Officer (City) Shivaji Shukla said: Two of the accused,including the one who had allegedly raped the girl,sped off on a motorcycle. The third one tried to escape but was caught. It was not a case of gangrape,as was initially suspected. The main accused has been identified as Karan Verma,who works in a private mill in Surat. He had come to Sadhopur with the marriage party. Efforts are on to nab him and his associate. Recently 46 houses of Muslims were torched in Asthan village of Pratapgarh district,following the gangrape and murder of a minor girl on June 20.
