JODHPUR: A murder convict serving a life term in an open-air jail in Jodhpur has escaped from the prison after allegedly raping his minor daughter whom he had been keeping with himself in the jail campus after his wife had left him, police said on Thursday.
The incident putting a question mark over the progressive concept of the open-air jail in Rajasthan came to light after the victim girl's mother lodged a complaint with the police after being informed about her husband's heinous offence by her daughter.
After coming to know from his wife that she was going to lodge a complaint with police against him, the convict escaped from the prison on Wednesday itself.
A case against the convict was lodged under relevant sections of IPC and POCSO Act and police launched an investigation into the twin crime of rape and escape from the prison, the police said.
"We have started the investigation into the matter. We recorded the victim's statements on Thursday itself and got her medical examination," said the police.
Police said a Sirohi district resident, serving a life term following his conviction in a murder case had been living in the Jodhpur open-air jail campus.
Under the provisions of the Rajasthan Prisoners Open Air Camp Rules, 1972, the convict had also been keeping his wife and minor daughter with him on the jail campus.
But his wife had left him some time back following his repeated violence with her while the daughter stayed back in the jail campus with her father, police said.
"The girl called up her mother on Wednesday and informed her that her father had raped her. Shocked by the incident, the girl's mother immediately rushed to the police and filed a case against her husband at the Reodar police station," said the police.
The matter was referred to Jodhpur police and the FIR against him was transferred to the Mandore police station having jurisdiction over the jail territory.
"The accused had left the jail on Wednesday evening itself. We have launched a hunt for him," Mandore police said.