Uttarakhand: 1 Held, 2 Girls Rescued on Pretext of Marriage
Tension in the town was recently caused by two males from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, luring two young girls in Dharchula of this district under the guise of marriage, police said on Thursday.
Three days after the crime was reported, on February 4, the police arrested one of the offenders in addition to rescuing both girls from Bareilly, according to Pithoragarh Superintendent of Police (SP) Lokeshwar Singh. In relation to the event, he said, a complaint has been filed against the accused under sections 363 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
According to Singh, the second defendant in the case is still at large. Following the discovery of the occurrence on February 1, residents of the town were agitated and began to gather in the streets, demanding the rescue of the young girls as well as punishment for those responsible, according to police. The town is now quiet, however, according to the SP, after one of the offenders was apprehended and the two girls were saved.
He said, “The police have decided to resume verifying all foreign residents of Pithoragarh district for employment, trade, or other purposes in the wake of the incident.”
The Dharchula merchants organization, meantime, has canceled membership applications until the police have confirmed the identities of every outside dealer doing business in the town. “All 630 merchants who were registered with Vyapar Sangh Dharchula have had their memberships canceled.
President of Dharchula Vyapar Sangh Bhupendra Singh Thapa said, “The new registrations of traders will only be done after proper verification of traders by the police.” He clarified, nevertheless, that after the verification procedure, registration would only be granted to merchants who have been doing business in Dharchula since 2000.
“The contractors in question will be granted temporary permission to take laborers from outside on their own responsibility if it becomes necessary to involve laborers for any project,” Thapa said.
