Dibrugarh, May 6: Tinisukia police on Friday said that the 12-year-old girl, whose body was found in a septic tank in Tinsukia’s Margherita town, may have been gang raped before she was murdered.
The main accused Anan Tanti was arrested by the police from Namsang tea estate in Joypur area of Dibrugarh district along the Assam-Arunachal border.
Tanti was injured in police firing while he tried to escape as he was being brought to the Margherita police station in Tinsukia district. Tanti who was hit by bullets in both his legs has been admitted at the Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH), Dibrugarh.
Margherita Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Hemanta Kumar Boro while addressing media persons on Friday said that preliminary investigation suggested that the minor girl may have been a victim of gang rape before she was murdered.
He said police have launched a manhunt to arrest the elder son of Anan Tanti, who has been absconding since the incident. It is suspected that both Tanti and his son were involved in the gangrape and murder of the minor girl.
The other son of the accused, who is a minor, has also been missing from his home since the incident. The police official said that if the minor boy was also found to be involved in the crime, he will also be tried as per the juvenile justice law.
“The trial of the case will be done in a fast track court. We will submit the charge sheet within one month. The accused has been booked under section 302 (murder), 376 (rape), 376 DA (gang rape of women under 16 years of age) and section 6 of the POCSO Act (aggravated penetrative sexual assault). We will ensure that the victim gets justice,” the SDPO said.
He further said that Ganga Rani Tanti, the wife of Anan Tanti, has been arrested and is being taken into police remand from the court for further interrogation.
“Ganga Rani Tanti has confessed that her husband committed the rape and murder. We suspect it was a gang rape and she is concealing information. The body of the girl was recovered based on her confession. We are searching for the elder son of the accused who is absconding,” the police official said.
According to police, the rape and murder victim, who was a class 6 student, had gone with her mother to watch a Bihu cultural programme in the area on the night of May 1.
While returning home late at night they dropped at the rented house of Anan Tanti for a chat as both the families were known to each other. As the girl was feeling very sleepy, the mother decided to leave her at Tanti’s house for the night and told the family that she would come and pick the girl in the morning. The mother then left for her home, which was located some distance away.
The next day when she came to pick up her daughter, she was told that she had already left for her home. As the girl was nowhere to be found, the worried family members and locals started searching for her and a missing complaint was lodged at the Margherita police station. After an intense search the body of the minor girl was recovered from a septic tank near Anan Tanti’s home on the night of May 3 based on the confession of the accused’s wife.
Anan Tanti was arrested on May 4 and he was shot in his leg while he tried to flee from police.
