Private school owner arrested for raping minor girl in Bhopal: Police

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh police have arrested the owner of a private school in Bhopal two weeks after he was accused of allegedly raping an eight-year-old girl on the hostel campus, police said on Tuesday.

Miniraj Modi was arrested after the rape survivor identified him on Monday. Police said they also arrested and suspended an assistant sub-inspector, Prakash Rajput, who allegedly pressured the minor girl’s mother to withdraw the rape complaint.

Bhopal city (Zone 2) deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Shradha Tiwari said Modi was arrested by a special investigation team (SIT) on Monday after the minor girl identified him.

Modi is currently in police custody and is being interrogated, Tiwari said, adding that he will be produced before the court after a medical test.

Meanwhile, the girl’s mother claimed that the police were trying to save the accused. Police conducted her medical tests twice and also registered her statement before a judge, the woman said, adding that Rajput put pressure on her for not registering the case.

On April 30, a first information report (FIR) was registered against Modi based on the complaint filed by the girl’s mother.

“My daughter was raped in the last week of April. I came to know about it on April 29 after she told me about her suffering in front of doctors at a government hospital. Doctors also confirmed rape and injury in private parts, but Rajput came to the hospital and put pressure on me for not registering the case,” the woman said.

Police conducted another medical test and a medical committee was formed to express their opinion, even though doctors at the hospital had confirmed rape, the mother said. Later, the police also conducted counseling sessions and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) held the counseling sessions for two days. “My daughter is only eight years old and is already traumatized, but the entire process initiated by the police has caused her psychological distress,” she added.

DCP Tiwari said that things were not clear in the FIR. “In the first medical test, doctors recommended seeing a gynecologist…later a medical committee was formed. In between, the CWC was asked for advice. After the statements were recorded during the deliberation before the CWC, suspects were shown to the girl and she identified the accused.”

Modi said he was innocent and added that a conspiracy was hatched against him.

In the FIR, three persons, including the home director, have been booked under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act.