Rajasthan: 16-year-old girl's body found in well, locals allege rape by school teacher

In yet another horrific incident in Rajasthan, the body of a 16-year-old girl was found in a well in the Sawai Madhopur district of the state. The locals have alleged that the class 12 girl was raped and later murdered by her school teacher. The girl's body was found floating in a well on Thursday in Hanutiya village under the Bonli police station area of Sawai Madhopur district.

As per the reports, the girl went missing on August 8 and her father had lodged a case at the Baulli police station against the school teacher Ramratan Meena for abducting her.

Locals allege rape by school teacher 

After the girl's body was found, the villagers accused the teacher of rape and murder. Anguished over the incident, the relatives of the girl and local villagers also staged a protest placing the body in the school playground. They were demanding compensation, removal of the entire school staff, investigation by senior police officers and immediate arrest of the accused. However, the protest continued till late evening on Thursday as the administration did not agree to their demand. 

Superintendent of Police Harshvardhan said that the victim's father had come to register a case of the kidnapping of a 16-year-old girl student studying in Government School Hanutia at Baulli police station. They had a suspicion that a teacher at her school had taken her away.  Accordingly, a case was lodged against the teacher. 

Girl's body found in well

"Following the registration of the case, the Bauli police station, under the supervision of CO Meena Meena, initiated a search operation. Throughout the night, with the assistance of local villagers, the search for the girl was conducted in the fields within the jurisdiction of the police station and at various locations. In the morning, near a well girl's slippers were found. Upon inspecting the well, the police found the girl's body floating in the water," he said.

Due to the sensitivity of the situation, SP Harshvardhan Agarwala, ASP Sitaram Prajapat, along with numerous police personnel and Malarna SDM Kishan Murari, promptly arrived at the scene.

"Arrangements were being organized to transport the deceased body for post-mortem, which the villagers opposed. They took possession of the body and staged a protest. The police authorities engaged with the villagers to explain the situation, yet the villagers resisted the post-mortem process due to their seven-point demands," said the SP.

Demand of protesters

Several BJP leaders participated in the protest demonstration. The protesters opposed the post-mortem while presenting a range of demands. These demands included providing a financial package of Rs 1 crore to the victim's family, offering a government job to a family member, dismissing the responsible teacher, filing a case under Section 302, and imposing the death penalty on the perpetrator.

The post-mortem of the body could not be conducted due to the protest. 

Amidst the protest, the villagers also expressed their anger towards the school staff.

As per available information, there were previous instances of mobile communication between the accused teacher and the deceased.

Police took accused teacher into custody

Given the circumstances, the villagers expressed their frustration and insisted on filing charges of both rape and murder against the accused teacher. However, the police have taken the accused teacher into custody. The same is being interrogated.

The police are currently conducting an investigation, aiming to gather information from various perspectives including murder, suicide, and honor killing, in order to ascertain the true facts of the case. 

(Reported by- Bajrang Singh)

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