5-Year-Old Abducted, Raped In Bihar's Darbhanga, Deputy CM Sushil Modi Evades Questions On Women Safety

A 5-year-old girl was abducted from outside her home and raped by tempo driver in Bihar's Darbhanga on Friday. The girl has suffered grievous injures and is admitted to Darbhanga’s government hospital. Doctors say her condition is critical. Early reports say that the girl was playing outside her home when the accused approached her. Before the girl could raise an alarm, the man forcibly took her away and rape her in a nearby garden. The accused has been identified as one Tetar Sahni, a resident of Bhagwanpur village. The Darbhanga Police arrested the man in a late-night operations. At a time when the nation outraged over increasing number of rape cases, Bihar’s top leadership seems to keep mum over the questions on women safety. On Saturday morning, Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minster Sushil Modi was seen evading question on women safety. The reporters were demanding his reaction over the Darbhanga incident as well as the overall situation in the country. Modi simply walked away and one of his team member was heard saying ‘not now’.

#WATCH Patna: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi evades question on Darbhanga minor rape case. pic.twitter.com/Yvjlgxbn6K

— ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2019

The latest data released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in August showed Bihar at eleventh position among the states and Union Territories in terms of crime against women. In 2014, the state was ranked eighth. Altogether 13,891 cases of crime against women were reported to police in Bihar in 2015 comparing to 15,383 cases in 2014. Like previous years, kidnapping of women with an intent to compel them for marriage saw a sharp increase in 2015.

Altogether 4,444 women were kidnapped from across the state for marriage in 2015. Bihar came second in this category while Uttar Pradesh topped with 8,290 women kidnapping cases. According to the NCRB data, 1,041 incidents of rape were reported to police in 2015 comparing to 1,127 such incidents in 2014. Of the 1,041 rape cases in 2015, the offenders were known to the victims in 954 cases. In 315 additional rape cases, the offenders committed the crime with a false promise to marry the victims.