Girl kidnapped from UP's Ballia, raped for over a month

Ballia: A 17-year-old girl was kidnapped from a village here and was raped for over a month before police freed her, offiicials said on Tuesday.

SHO Nagar Atul Kumar Mishra said police freed the girl from where she was held in Nagara town in Ballia district on Sunday, and arrested Raja Bharti (24) for the crime later on Monday.

Police said the girl was kidnapped by Bharti on September 11. Acting on the complaint registered by the girl's father, a case under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against him on September 16.

The girl, in a statement to the police, said that Raja kidnapped her, took her to Haryana and raped her for about one and a half months. Based on the girl's statement, the police have added Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code as well as relevant sections of the POCSO Act in the case.

The police arrested Bharti from Malap Mod in Nagara town on Monday and sent him to jail after completing the legal process, the SHO added.