Administration razes houses of duo accused of brutal rape of 12-year-old in Madhya Pradesh’s Maihar

The local government on Saturday razed the houses of two men suspected of raping and abusing a 12-year-old girl in Maihar, a temple town in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district, an official said.

According to reports, the accused, Ravindra Kumar and Atul Bhadoliya, sexually assaulted the child, bit her, and inserted a hard object in her private area on Thursday. However, a senior official said that this could be verified only after receiving the medical test report of the girl.

Following the incident, according to Superintendent of Police (SDOP) Lokesh Dabar, the Chief Municipal Officer of the Maihar Municipal Council on Friday sent notices to the families of the two men asking for documentation of their properties and structures.

According to the investigation, the houses of both the accused were built without permission, he added, adding that Bhalodiy's house was built on 'nazool' land (government property used for non-agricultural purposes) while Kumar's house was.

Eyewitnesses said that when the demolition team reached Bhalodiy's house, his family asked the authorities to wait and take some action until the investigation was over. However, they continued with the demolition. The two allegedly lured the girl and took her to a remote location, where they raped and tortured her, according to police. They were employed by a trust that looked after a well-known temple in the town of Maihar.

The girl, after being hospitalized with profuse bleeding and bites on her body, was sent to the Rewa Divisional Headquarters Hospital for professional medical treatment. A medical team is monitoring her condition and if necessary, she could be sent to Bhopal or Delhi for further treatment, Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashutosh Gupta said on Saturday. The two accused, both in their 30s, were produced before the court on Friday and given a 14-day judicial remand, according to Gupta. According to the police, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) were used to charge the couple.

In a press release after the incident, the management committee of the Maa Sharda Devi Mandir in Maihar said that when a criminal complaint was filed against the two individuals, they immediately terminated their employment with Kumar and Bhalodiya.