Naxals raped 10-yr-old girls, say police

But the parents of the girls say they are hearing about this for the first time. “Rape? Whose rape? My daughter was raped? By Gujja? When? “When did I identify Gujja? I never saw him in Bijapur. I went there only to bring back my daughter but the police refused (to send her)” asks the father of one of the girls.

Parents of the other girl echoed this version. “If Gujja was raping my daughter, she would have told me first,” said the mother of the second girl. Gujja lived next door to this family with his wife Ramakka, two children, and brother.

Residents of Farsapalli and neighbouring villages agree. In fact, the villagers claim two local boys were witness to the police molesting the two girls.

The two girls sat quietly when this reporter met them on two occasions last week. They had tears in their eyes and appeared too intimidated to speak and managed a few fumbling sentences when prompted by policewomen.

Questions have been raised about the police version of events as the police did not make public that Tati Sarita was among those arrested on November 3 in connection with the rape of the two girls. Witnesses said the police molested Sarita and she was in a “dishevelled condition”. But Agrawal and the DSP (special operations) denied she was among those arrested.

The case diary at Modakpal police station, however, records Sarita’s arrest with four men —

... contd.