Jharsuguda: Police Saturday arrested two persons from Brajarajnagar here on charges of selling the girl for Rs 2 lakh to a man in Bhiwani area of Haryana.
The arrested persons have been identified as uncle of the minor girl, Tankadhar and neighbour, Ajay Ganjari. Tankadhar had sold the girl taking her on the pretext of further studies. Reportedly, she was sold six months ago for Rs 2 lakh to one Sandeep of Bhiwani area.
In Haryana, Sandeep had forcefully married and raped her several times. In a bid to escape from him, the girl had jumped off a building and was later admitted to a hospital in Hisar.
Basing on the girl’s statements, Haryana police arrested Sandeep and his mother Sakuntala and informed its Odisha counterpart, stated reports.
Meanwhile, two teams comprising police, district administrative officials of Jharsuguda and family members of the girl Friday night launched a rescue operation to bring back the girl. Jharsuguda SDPO, Sunand Moharana informed that further course of action would be decided once the girl rescued.
As per reports, Sandeep had bought the girl with the intention of marrying her. He held her hostage for two months and raped her. The incident came to the fore when the victim made a futile attempt to escape from his confinement Thursday.
In a bid to escape, the 15-year-old girl jumped from the widow of the second floor of the house where she was confined and injured herself. She was admitted to a hospital by Bhiswani police after which the girl narrated her ordeal to the cops.
Based on the statement of the girl, Bhiwani police arrested Sundeep and his mother Thursday. The two have been booked under Sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
Meanwhile, Bhiwani child welfare committee president Subhash Jindal said they were providing counselling to the victim.
“She is getting treatment for her injury and is being counselled we hope we will be able to get more information from the girl about the case. Unfortunately, the victim cannot speak or read Hindi and so it was easy for her own uncle, the elder brother of the girl’s father. Currently, we are trying to find more details regarding the girl’s family,” Jindal said.
PNN