The police has arrested four persons, who were remanded to police custody till January 1
13-year-old devdasi gangraped in Ahmednagar (Representational image)
NASHIK: A 13-year-old Devdasi (servant of God) was allegedly repeatedly raped by several Waghya (religious leaders) in Akole tehsil of Ahmednagar, leading to her giving birth to a daughter.
A case has been register-ed after members of the Maharashtra Andhashra-ddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS) and the Spark group threatened action. The police has arrested four persons, who were remanded to police custody till January 1.
MANS leader advocate Ranjana Pagar Gawande said that the girl was sold by her grandmother when she was one year old. “When she was 10, she was taken away to sing in gondhal (night programmes) by prime accused Rajendra Chavan, who is her ‘guru baap’, or godfather. She has been allegedly assaulted by Chavan and many others since she was 10.”
“The police has registered cases under relevant sectio-ns of the IPC and Prote-ction of Children from Sexual Offences Act, which is inadequate. We have demanded that they apply sections from the Devdasi Act, which prescribes stringent punishment for such cas-es,” Advocate Pagar Gawande and Spark Group members Heramb Kulkarni and Srinavas Renukadas said.
The girl gave birth in October, but the MANS activists, who knew about it, waited two months after the birth to avoid disturbing the teenage mother.
( Source : dc )
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