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Woman gangraped, son sodomised in Lucknow

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

Close on the heels of the sensational killing of an ice-cream parlour salesman, Lucknow witnessed another shocking incident of daylight vandalism when a 10-year-old boy was sodomised, his mother gangraped and the uncle who came to help them was beaten black and blue.

The incident took place last Saturday, on the outskirts of the city, where murders, rapes, hold-ups and kidnappings have become the order of the day.

It, however, went unreported as the local police turned down the victims' family's plea to even lodge a complaint.

It was only after the victims approached higher police officers that a case was registered against the accused, 24 hours after the incident.

That gave enough time for the culprits to abscond. Ultimately, the police could lay their hands on only two of them.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that efforts are on to get the case hushed up as the accused belong to an affluent and politically well connected lobby.

According to Mahavir, the gang-rape victim's husband, his son Nanhe was forcibly taken away by Amit Pal, a local tough, to the nearby fields and sodomised. The boy was on his way home. He was spared only after he was badly bruised and became unconscious.

On regaining his senses, he somehow managed to reach home and narrate his tale of woe to his father, who thought it best to report the matter to the police. While he was still at the Chinhat police station, pleading with the officers to register his report, Amit Pal decided to teach the poor fellow a bigger lesson. After all Mahavir had dared the local dada by attempting to lodge a case against him.

Amrit Pal went to Mahavir's house along with half-a-dozen others, who were identified as Ram Kailash, Arun Pal, Ravi Pal, Sant Ram Yadav and Naumi Lal. They dragged out Mahavir's brother Chander and beat him with iron rods and sticks, until he lost consciousness.

They then turned their wrath on Mahavir's wife, who had not yet got over the trauma of what had happened to her son. She was carried away by the hoodlums to the nearby fields and raped. There were none to respond to her wails.

When her husband returned home -- his pleas at the police station had fallen on deaf ears -- it was too late. All he could do was seek treatment for his entire family at a nearby private nursing home as the government hospital would not admit them without a police report.

Finally, a report was lodged with the police on Sunday following the intervention of senior officers, but only Amit Pal and Ram Kailash could be arrested. The others are absconding.

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