Bhopal rape case: The accused took the girl to an isolated area nearby and raped her.
Highlights
- The police suspect that the girl's aunt was involved in the crime
- The incident took place when the girl with her aunt went to a temple
- Several incidents of rape have been reported in Madhya Pradesh
A 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by two men on Tuesday in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal. Police suspect that the girl's teenage aunt knew the accused and was involved in the crime.
The victim was visiting a temple with her 16-year-old aunt on Tuesday evening when the accused approached her, the police said. The men took the girl to a secluded spot nearby and raped her, before smashing her head with stones, they said. Her aunt was not around when she was taken away by the men, the police said.
The following day, her family filed a complaint with the police and both men - who lived in the same neighbourhood as the girl - were arrested, along with her aunt.
Hitting out at the Kamal Nath-led Congress government, Pragya Thakur, the BJP candidate from Bhopal, tweeted, "Law and order is in disarray in the state. Kamal Nath has been reduced to being the Chief Minister of Chhindwara. Beti (daughter), we will take revenge."
The BJP leader also took the girl's mother - who needed medical attention after learning about her daughter's death - to the hospital, news agency PTI reported.
Last July, a seven-year-old was abducted outside her school in the state's Mandsaur district by two men who raped, tortured and then later slit her throat. The case led to nationwide protests, the gruesome details of which sickened and angered several thousand people, including political leaders, who sought death penalty for the perpetrators.
Then-state opposition leader Kamal Nath had tweeted: "MP is infamous state in the country for recording the largest number of rapes in the country already. When such incidents would stop? When our sisters-daughters are going to get a secure environ (sic)?"
Several incidents of rape have been reported in Madhya Pradesh. In fact, the state reported the highest number of rape cases in both 2016 and 2017, as per government records.