Uttar Pradesh topped the list of states with the highest number of crimes against women in 2019.
Highlights
- A video of survivor describing the crime had gone viral on social media
- Action was taken after the intervention of Gorakhpur police chief
- UP had recorded highest number of crimes against women in 2019
Two policemen in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur town, the home turf of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, have been suspended and a case filed against them for their alleged inaction in a gangrape case related to a minor girl who was brought to their police post on Tuesday night after the incident.
The action was taken after the intervention of Gorakhpur police chief Jogendra Kumar, who saw a viral video of the survivor on Wednesday in which she described the crime.
"As soon I got to know, I and other officers intervened. The matter was brought to the notice of the district magistrate. The survivor's statement was taken and a case of gangrape has been registered . The chowki (police post) incharge and the constable posted there did not take action in the matter and both have been suspended and a case under the section ' Public Servant disobeying direction under Law' has been filed against them. We have taken one person named by the survivor into custody and are getting a medical examination of the survivor conducted," Jogendra Kumar, Gorakhpur's police chief said in a statement on Twitter.
The survivor is a dancer at a local orchestra and was returning home from work on Tuesday night when the alleged gangrape took place. "I was returning home after the dance performance. There were two other girls with me. They offered to drop me home, but I asked them to go on and I would manage to go alone. But then these men approached me, caught hold of me, and they gagged me. They even threatened me and said they would kill me," the girl can be heard saying in a video that has been circulating on social media since Wednesday. It is not clear who shot this footage.
Uttar Pradesh topped the list of states with the highest number of crimes against women in 2019, the latest data released by the National Crime Record Bureau in September last year showed.
The state also had the highest number of crimes against female children under the POCSO Act with 7,444 cases, followed by Maharashtra (6,402) and Madhya Pradesh (6,053).