Cases related to sexual assault and other crimes against women continued to pour in twin states of Punjab and Haryana including those allegedly involving cops, even as police claimed to have become "over sensitive" to gender-related offences in the wake of Delhi gangrape episode.
An ASI and his son were arrested for setting afire their daughter-in-law as they were unhappy with her for bringing insufficient dowry in Baldev Nagar of Ambala city of Haryana.
Baldev Nagar SHO Pawan Kumar said that Vikas was arrested on Tuesday. Father-in-law of the victim Surender Rana, was arrested on Thursday.
Nisha was allegedly set on fire by her husband and father-in-law since she could not bring in more dowry and is currently battling for life, police said.
Punjab police arrested an ASI of the Punjab Armed Police on the charge of molesting a 10-year-old girl in Mohali.
The accused has been identified as Desh Raj, who was posted as guard at Punjab Congress Bhawan.
In his complaint to police, a migrant labourer hailing from Uttar Pardesh had accused Desh Raj of molesting his daughter, a student of Class 7.
The complainant said that the accused used to stay in their neighbourhood in a rented accommodation and alleged that Desh Raj had misbehaved with his daughter on December 23 when she had gone to attend the nature's call.
In a separate incident, a 22-year-old married man was arrested for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl in Vikas Nagar Colony at Baltana in Zirakpur in Punjab's Patiala district, police said.
The incident took place when the victim's family had gone out for work and she was at home with her minor sister. The complaint was lodged by the victim's father hailing from Budaoon district in Uttar Pardesh, police said, adding that he was a daily wager and was currently residing in the colony.
The accused has been identified as Raju.
A case of rape had been registered against Raju after medical examination of the victim, Baltana police post in-charge Paramjit Singh said.
Haryana police has filed a chargesheet against Sanjay Kumar who allegedly abducted a minor girl after posing as a sadhu and repeatedly raped her for more than ten days in Ambala.
The 17-year-old girl had gone missing from her house on December 17 and was later found near the Kurukshetra railway station on December 27, police said.
The girl's father had lodged a complaint with police alleging that Kumar, who hailed from Hardoi in UP and was now staying at Ugala village in Ambala district while pretending to be a sadhu, had abducted his daughter.
The girl, Class XI student at a government school, was made to undergo medical examination that confirmed rape, police said.
Deputy Commissioner of police (rural) Nazneen Bhasin said that the police had filed the chargesheet in the court against the accused.
Meanwhile, a youth Gurnaam Singh was arrested for allegedly molesting a minor girl in Buga village in Panchkula district of Haryana, police said.
The incident took place yesterday when the victim had gone to attend the nature's call, Inspector Satish Kumar said.
In a separate incident, a 16-year-old girl was allegedly abducted by an unidentified person at Garh Padhana village in Nawanshahar district of Punjab yesterday, police said.
Jarnail Singh, who works as a driver, said that when he returned from work his wife told him that their daughter had not returned from the market.
Investigation Officer Harjinder Singh said police have started an investigation in the case.
Witnessing a spurt in the number of complaints related to rape and sexual harassment, police of both the states have decided to adopt a cautious approach in dealing with such cases, officials said.
Demonstrations and awareness programmes continued with people from different sections of society and NGOs demanding a safe and secure environment for women in the backdrop of the recent Delhi gang-rape incident.
