A 45-year-old constable of Uttar Pradesh police was beaten up by a mob and arrested on Thursday for allegedly raping a seven-year-old girl in Greater Noida.
Subhash Singh, a constable in the sales tax department in Gautam Budh Nagar, forcibly took the girl while she was playing near her home in Surajpur to his room nearby when no adults were around and allegedly raped her around 3 pm on Wednesday.
When she screamed for help, neighbours gathered at his place. “We found the child in a bad state while Singh ran away,” said a neighbour of the victim.
“Around Wednesday midnight, Singh returned to his flat and at 4 am, two women neighbours tried to apprehend him, but he attacked them too. Later, a mob of over a hundred people attacked Singh and roughed him up. He was in his uniform and we kept beating him for two hours. Later, police was informed and they reached the spot by 8 am and arrested him,” said the neighbour.
Police have lodged an FIR against Singh under sections 342, 376 of IPC and 5/6 of Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
“The child has been sent to the district hospital at Sector 30, Noida for medical test. Reports are awaited,” said Akhilesh Pradhan, station house officer, Surajpur, Greater Noida.
A video of the mob beating the accused has surfaced.
Singh (45), a native of Kaithi village in Balua of UP, stayed in a one-room flat in Surajpur close to the victim’s house.
The victim studies in a nearby school in Surajpur. Her mother works as a labourer in a factory. Her father had died long back. She is one of five siblings and the family hails from Bihar.