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Wednesday, Sep 08, 2004

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Police probing alleged rape in Army camp

By G. Anand

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPT. 7. The Kerala Police are investigating an allegation that three persons at a "military camp" here raped a minor girl from Kottiyam in Kollam district. She made the allegation before the Judicial First Class Magistrate (Kollam) under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on June 10.

On September 4, a police team from Kollam brought the 15-year-old to the military camp at Pangode here as part of the probe. She was shown around the camp by a police team led by the Circle Inspector, Chathannoor.

The girl's mother also accompanied the team consisting of women constables. The team was escorted by an Army officer in civilian dress, informed sources said. The police said the girl was yet to identify the place where the alleged crime had taken place. They are not ruling out the possibility of the girl having been raped by persons posing as Army men in a place other than the military camp.

`Sold by a woman'

In her deposition, the girl had alleged that she was "sold" for Rs. 1,500 by a woman to three persons who "raped [her] here in a house at a Pattala [military] camp in Thiruvananthapuram" early this year.

She said that one of the aggressors was a 50-year-old man referred as "sir" by the other two. After the alleged incident, she was dropped at Kollam by one of the persons.

18 arrested

The police in Kollam have arrested 18 persons in connection with the case registered at Kottiyam police station (Crime number: 194/04) on April 30.

In her statement to the magistrate, the girl said that her mother was mentally ill and her father did not care for the family. The victim has a brother. The girl told the magistrate that her neighbour had befriended her by showing her films, including pornographic ones. The police suspect the girl was "sold" to many persons by the neighbour and some others, an official said.

The case came to light when the girl was stopped by a police Highway Patrol party in front of the Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd unit at Chavara in Kollam district at around 5 a.m. on March 29. On being questioned, the girl said she was dropped at the point by a youth on his motorbike. In her statement to the police, the girl said she had been raped by as many as 28 persons over the past several months. On the basis of her statement, the police registered a case of rape under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on March 30. The police said five more accused in the case had been identified and would be arrested soon.

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