A wave of shock, grief and angry public reaction has erupted in the Wardha district following the brutal sexual assault and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Rotha village where a farm laborer attacked and killed her in her own home on Wednesday, July 15, while her parents were away to farm the fields.
The Tragic Incident
The victim, a school-going minor, belonged to a family of migrant agricultural laborers who recently moved to Rotha from the Darwha area of Yavatmal district. The young girl returned home from school on Wednesday afternoon to an empty house, as her parents were still tending to crops in a nearby field, local police sources said.
The accused is said to have entered the house at the time, 30-year-old Rahul Raju Madavi, a laborer working in nearby fields, who had sneaked into the house, having taken advantage of her isolation. Madavi sexually assaulted the minor, police said. The accused then allegedly attacked her head with a heavy stone, breaking her head and fleeing the scene in a desperate bid to destroy evidence of the crime and silence the victim, according to the police.
When the unsuspecting parents returned at 7:30 PM from their long workday they found their daughter missing. A search of the property took them to an outhouse room close to their home. There they found the young girl lying in a pool of blood with critical head injuries. The injuries were too severe for her to survive and she died soon after.
Police Investigation and Arrest
The sheer brutality of the crime committed against a vulnerable child just meters away from where her parents worked has deeply shaken the local community. Senior law enforcement officials from Wardha Superintendent of Police (SP) Saurabh Kumar Agrawal, Additional SP and Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) immediately attended the crime scene to oversee forensic collection and lead the probe.
The police arrested Rahul Raju Madavi after a thorough investigation resulted in his arrest.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against the accused under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for murder, and strict provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act," said a senior police official close to the investigation.
Public Outcry and Political Response. The horrific crime quickly turned into massive public anger on Thursday. Tensions erupted at the local hospital where the victim’s body was being sent for post-mortem examination. The grieving family, with hundreds of emotional locals around them, initially refused to accept the girl’s body and pleaded for immediate justice, a quick and swift trial and the harshest possible punishment for the perpetrator.
Wardha Member of Parliament Amar Kale rushed to the scene to defuse the situation. Kale met the devastated family members and assured them that he would personally ensure the police administration does not face political pressure and nothing is overlooked. He also appealed to senior officials to expedite the investigation so that a fair chargesheet is prepared so that a trial is swift and unfettered.
At the same time, local authorities stepped up security deployment to maintain law and order while the investigation continues.
