Jharkhand man arrested for 'raping' minor tribal girl, aborting pregnancy

Dumka, Sep 7 (PTI) A middle-aged man was arrested in Jharkhand's Dumka district on Sunday for allegedly raping a 13-year-old tribal girl who worked as a domestic help in his house, police said.

The arrest came a day after the survivor and her mother lodged a complaint at Gopikandar police station on Saturday.

"The girl was sent to Phulo Jhano Medical College and Hospital, Dumka, for medical test. The accused, Santosh Murmu (45), a resident of Tarani village in Gopikandar, was arrested and remanded to judicial custody," Gopikandar police station in-charge Sumeet Bhagat told PTI.

The officer said Murmu had hired the girl to work as a help in 2020.

"Murmu raped the girl on the night of October 12, 2024 and threatened to kill her if she informed about it to anyone. He repeated the act several times. When the girl became pregnant, the accused took her to a private clinic in Dumka and aborted her pregnancy and sent her to her native house in Pakur," the officer said.

Seeing her daughter's health condition, the mother got suspicious and started questioning her, till she revealed about the entire episode.

"It was then the mother came to our police station seeking justice. She also brought the medicines which the accused had given her daughter to abort pregnancy," Bhagat said. PTI ANB MNB