NEW DELHI: A 12-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ‘tantrik’ (occultist ) in northwest Delhi’s Kanjhawala area on the pretext of curing her sick father, an official said on Wednesday. The accused, identified as Mohd Sharif (52), has been arrested.
DCP (Rohini) Guriqbal Singh Sidhu said a PCR call regarding molestation of a girl child, about 12 years of age, was received at Kanjhawala police station on August 27 following which the local police reached JJ Colony Sawda where they spoke to the victim. “The victim said the accused allured her on the pretext of performing some ‘tantra’ for recovery of her father, suffering from chronic illness,” the DCP said.
According to the officer, the accused Sharif took the 12-year-old girl to a graveyard where he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
On the basis of a statement by the girl, the police have registered an FIR under section 65 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act at Kanjhawala police station.
As per section 65 (2) of the BNS, anyone who commits rape on a woman under twelve years of age shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than twenty years, which may extend to imprisonment for life, thus meaning imprisonment for the remainder of a person’s natural life. The law also has provision for death sentence. POCSO section 6 refers to aggravated penetrative sexual assault.
The DCP said the girl was medically examined at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital. “After registration of the FIR, the police formed a team and traced the accused Sharif who was then placed under arrest,” the officer said, adding further investigation is ongoing.