'Rapist' offers to marry his victim, cops broker settlement

In an apparent bid to avoid punishment, a youth, who had allegedly raped a girl, agreed to marry her after the victim’s family threatened to lodge an FIR against him.

The local police reportedly played a crucial role in getting the two sides arrive at an amicable settlement. The marriage would take place in the court on Monday, according to the terms of the agreement. According to reports, the youth, a resident of Lonahan village, about 30 kilometers from here, allegedly raped the girl, who lived in the neighboring Garhi village, when she had gone out to answer the call of nature on Wednesday.

The parents of the victim had gone to some other place to attend a function. The victim narrated the incident, when they returned home on Friday. The parents immediately approached the police and sought registration of a case against the culprit. Meanwhile the culprit also got wind of the development and contacted the victim’s family with the offer of marrying the girl, reports said.

The victim’s family apprised the police about the offer made by the culprit. The police then called the victim and his family to the police station and brokered a settlement. Both the parties agreed for the marriage of the victim and the culprit in the court on Monday.

“We will lodge a complaint if the culprit went back on his promise”, the father of the victim said. Though the senior police officials denied having any knowledge about the settlement, the villagers said that an agreement had been reached and no case had been registered with regard to the alleged rape.

Earlier too the police were found to have brokered settlement in cases of rape. In some cases, the police even got a panchayat convened inside the police station premises and forced a settlement on the concerned parties.