A man in his forties has been arrested in Assam’s Cachar district for allegedly raping his 16-year-old daughter and impregnating her, police said on Tuesday.
According to officials, the incident took place in 2022 in the Udharbond area of Cachar district. The survivor, who later gave birth to a baby girl, lodged a complaint with the help of the Child Helpline nearly two years later.
“After receiving the complaint in January this year, we registered a case and began an investigation. The accused had been absconding for the last 11 months before we managed to apprehend him on Monday night,” said Siimsing Timung, officer-in-charge of Udharbond Police Station.
Police said the victim initially filed the complaint at Rangirkhari Police Outpost in Silchar town, around 18 km from the place of occurrence. The case was later transferred to Udharbond Police Station for further investigation.
Based on the complaint and preliminary evidence, police registered a case under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, which deals with aggravated penetrative sexual assault, and Section 376(3) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which prescribes 20 years to life imprisonment for raping a woman below 16 years of age.
“The accused had been on the run, but we kept him under surveillance. The charge-sheet was submitted within the mandatory time frame, and we gathered adequate evidence during the investigation indicating the alleged rape,” an investigating officer said.
The accused was produced before a court on Tuesday and remanded to judicial custody. “We are further investigating the matter, and interrogation of the accused is a major part of it,” officials added.
On January 18 this year, the victim lodged a complaint at the Rangirkhari Police Outpost, stating that her father had raped her multiple times at home. She also alleged that he threatened her with dire consequences, including killing her younger brother, if she ever revealed the matter to anyone.
The situation worsened when she became pregnant. At around seven months of pregnancy, her health deteriorated severely. She confided in a woman relative, her aunt who then informed her father. The accused allegedly instructed them to take the girl to a doctor and later sent her to a relative’s house in Silchar.
A few weeks later, the victim gave birth to a baby girl, who was temporarily left in the care of the relatives. During this period, the accused married another woman, and the stepmother reportedly refused to allow the victim back into their home.
The girl told police that she had once attempted to end her life but stopped herself thinking of her newborn. She later boarded a train to Guwahati, where she fell ill and was rescued by the Railway Police. The police subsequently transferred her to a government-recognised shelter home in Silchar.
Officials said that with the help of the Child Helpline, the survivor received legal assistance and was able to file the formal complaint. The incident had triggered widespread outrage in the area, leading to local protests in January.
