Community asks rape accused to pay victim

The incident was reported from Palain village in Lalgopalganj area under Nawabganj police station on Allahabad-Pratapgarh border.

Superintendent of Police (Trans-Ganga) Shafiq Ahmed said: “The Station Officer had gone to the village after we came to know about it. The victim and her family members were present then,but today they are not traceable. It seems the victim’s family is not interested in pressing the charges.” He added there was no evidence so far to suggest that the victim’s family had been threatened into silence.

According to the police,the girl,daughter of a worker at a brick kiln,was raped in the fields on Tuesday evening. The two accused were identified as Manoj Kumar Patel and Santosh Kumar Patel. While Manoj is a petty contractor,Santosh is a farmer.

The police said that with the accused and the victim being from the same community of Patels,a panchayat of the biradari was called.

On Thursday,after a series of discussions,a panchayat was held in which the families of the accused young men were asked to pay Rs 21,000 each to the victim’s family and settle the matter.

Investigating Officer and Station Officer (Nawabganj) Inspector V K Singh Bhadauria said: “As we came to know about the incident,we went there and managed to convince the uncle of the victim to lodge a written complaint on the basis of which the case was registered.”