Rautahat, September 11

Three persons were arrested in Rautahat today after a group of locals mounted an attack on a police office over an ongoing investigation in a rape incident.

According to SP Kedar Dhakal of District Police Office, police had to use force after a group of 40 to 50 persons led by a Rautahat Constituency 4 PA member Mahamad Abul Kalam staged a demonstration in front of  Garuda Area Police Office and hurled stones at the police office.

“After the demonstrators vandalised a vehicle and started hurling stones, police had to use force,” said the SP, adding police head constable Anil Kushawaha was injured in the clash and three demonstrators were held.

The demonstration today was sparked by the arrest of a fifty-year-old Sahamad Ansari, who is accused of having raped a 12-year-old of Gamhariya in Gadhimai about a week ago. Police had picked up Ansari from his home on Monday acting on an FIR filed by the victim’s family charging that Kalam and others had tried to hush up the case by paying some money in compensation. While, the accused perpetrator is in police custody now, the girl has been sent for medical check-up.

SP Dhakal, on his part, pledged to bring to book anyone involved in the rape.

Provincial lawmaker Kalam denied his involvement in the demonstration and attack on the police office. “I had gone to the police office just to learn about the situation in the wake of the incident,” he said, accusing his opponents of levelling the accusation against him to damage his image. “I’m in support of a fair investigation that will bring to book the perpetrator,” he said.