Police register case under BNS sections and POCSO Act, forming teams to track down and arrest all five accused

In the PGI police station area of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, five accused — including an elderly man — have been arrested in a case involving the rape of a minor girl. In a statement issued late Sunday night, Lucknow Police, citing the complaint, said that on July 24, the complainant reported that her 16-year-old sister-in-law had left home without informing anyone on July 17. Despite an extensive search, no clue about her whereabouts was found. On July 23, it came to light that Durgesh and his wife Khushboo had lured the girl and kept her at their house.

Upon reaching there, the girl revealed that between July 18 and 20, Rabia and her husband Vinod took her on a motorcycle to a hotel in the PGI police station area and locked her in a room. She further stated that at the hotel, Rabia introduced her to an acquaintance named Dwarika Raidas (70), who sexually assaulted her over the course of three days.

Police said that based on this complaint, a case was registered against the accused under Sections 61(2) (engaging in criminal conspiracy), 64(2) (repeated rape of the same woman), and 137(2) (kidnapping) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with provisions of the POCSO Act, and teams were formed to arrest the accused.

Police said that acting on a tip-off, the accused — Dwarika Raidas (70), Vinod Rawat (20), Durgesh Rawat (26), Khushboo (23), and Rabia (18) — were arrested near Kisan Path on Sunday and sent to jail. All the arrested accused are residents of Lucknow district. The police investigation found that accused Dwarika Raidas, along with the other accused, forcibly engaged in sexual acts with the minor girl without her consent, establishing his primary role in the crime.

The accused Vinod Rawat, Durgesh Rawat, and Khushboo, acting with a shared criminal intent, lured the victim into a vehicle and kidnapped her; they held her captive at different locations and assisted the other accused. Police said the accused Rabia took the victim to a hotel and actively helped bring in the other accused, Dwarika Raidas, to carry out the crime, enabling him to forcibly engage in sexual acts with the minor. In its statement, police said this establishes that all the accused, acting in coordination and with shared criminal intent, played different roles in committing this serious crime.