Lucknow: Three persons were arrested after a video purportedly showing a minor dalit girl being thrashed over suspicion of theft in Amethi went viral on the social media.
In the over one-minute video, two men are seen pinning down a teenage girl to the floor while the third is seen raining blows on the soles of her feet with a stick. The girl was reportedly accused of theft.
Three women are also seen questioning the girl in the video. While the girl writhes in pain, one of the men again hits the girl, drags her on the floor grabbing her by the hair.
Circle officer, city, Amethi, Arpit Kapoor told TOI that an FIR was lodged soon after the police received the complaint from the girl’s father on December 27.
“The girl’s father informed the police that his daughter is mentally unstable and entered the house of the accused after she lost her way. The accused thought her to be a thief and thrashed her,” he said.
The CO said the accused have been booked on charges of sexual harassment, and under relevant sections of the POCSO Act and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. “All the three accused, Shubham Gupta, Rahul Soni and Suraj Soni, have been arrested,” he added.
Priyanka Gandhi condemns incident
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday condemned the Amethi incident.
“On an average, at least 34 incidents of casteist crimes and 135 crimes against women are reported in the state daily but the police administration takes no action. We will launch an agitation if the accused persons are not arrested within 24 hours,” Priyanka tweeted. The Times of India
