If shifted to jail, inmates might harm Mandsaur rape case accused: officials

Mandsaur: Mandsaur district jail superintendent has written to the session’s court in Mandsaur against sending two accused in the minor girl rape case to the facility fearing that the jail inmates might harm them.

An eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped on June 26 and left severely injured by two men in Mandsaur. The accused, identified as Irfan and Asif, are currently in custody of Mandsaur Police which expires on July 5.

The rape and brutalisation of the girl--who had suffered grievous injuries to her neck, face, head and private parts--had led to public outrage in Mandsaur and neighbouring districts.

Read: 8-yr-old kidnapped, raped, left to die in forest near school in MP

"I have written a letter to the district and sessions court stating that the prisoners are angry at the two accused for committing such heinous crime. In these circumstances some unpleasant incident can take place in the prison," said Mandsaur district jail superintendent Sunil Sharma.

He said the prison does not have a separate cell to keep the accused duo, and in view of this, they should be sent to the Ujjain jail.

Meanwhile, Mandsaur Mobile Phone Sellers Association on Tuesday took out a rally demanding speedy trial of the case and capital punishment for the accused. The protesters handed over a memorandum to district Additional Superintendent of Police Sundar Singh Kanesh at the police control room.

Right wing organisations Sri Ram Yuva Sena and Hindu Sabha on Tuesday demanded from Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Rs 1 crore aid for the family of the victim.

In a memorandum addressed to Chouhan and submitted to Naib Tehsildar Tejkaran Verma in Mandsaur, Sena city president Kunal Shrivastava demanded that the accused be tortured physically before they are hanged, which they said would serve as a strong deterrent.

The girl was allegedly lured away by the two men while she was waiting for her father outside her school. The two men allegedly raped the girl, slit her throat with a knife and left her to die, the police had said earlier.

Both Irfan (20) and Asif (24) were booked under the relevant sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.