Dalit woman gang-raped by six speaks up after accused sell assault video to locals for Rs 300 each

Jan 30, 2021, 04:36 IST

Bareilly: A Dalit woman had been allegedly gang-raped by six persons, including five minors aged between 15 and 17, in UP’s
Budaun district in October last year. She had kept quiet all these months and shared her ordeal with police after the accused
put out the assault video online and sold it to locals for Rs 300 each.
The six accused have been booked and detained by Budaun police. The 30-year-old married woman, who comes from a poor
family and works as domestic worker, had feared all along that the video would be made public and the accused may also kill
her husband and children. Her husband works as a cart puller.
In her complaint, the survivor alleged that the accused had sold the video clips of the assault to locals for Rs 300 each. In the
video, the woman can be purportedly heard pleading with the accused not to shoot the video even as the minor boys
continued with their heinous act.
Police have registered an FIR under sections 376-D (gang rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC along with section 66E of IT Act and relevant sections of the SC/ST Act. The crime was reported from Faizganj Behta area.

“The woman went to collect forest wood when she was raped by five accused, who were all minors. The video was sold for Rs
300 by one of their friends who is a 20-year-old. He is also made an accused in the case. The crime occurred in October,” SSP
Sankalp Sharma told TOI on Friday.
“The FIR was registered against the accused seen in the video following a complaint by the survivor. Multiple teams were
deployed and all the six accused were picked up within a few hours. Five of them were found minor during questioning and
were sent to a juvenile home while the one who sold the video was sent to Budaun district jail,” Sharma added.
Her statement has been recorded and she was sent for a medical examination.
“The woman comes from a poor background. Her details have been shared with district administration for compensation under
the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,” Sharma said.
There was tension in the village on Friday. Five of the six accused belong to another community. Extra force has been deployed
in the area to prevent any untoward incident.