UP: Saint allegedly rapes minor girl in Magh Mela; arrested

In a shocking incident, a saint has been arrested for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl inside a camp on the Magh Mela ground on February 5. The accused has been identified as Sanjeev Kumar Rai aka Sanjeev Maharaj, a native of Gadwar in Ballia district and he has been arrested by the Prayagraj police from Jhusi area.

Sanjeev Kumar Rai had allegedly raped the girl at his camp on the Magh Mela ground. He set up a camp on the Magh Mela ground, where he allegedly raped the girl who used to deliver flowers at his camp.

According to reports, the girl's mother sells flowers in the Mela ground. The girl used to deliver flowers to various camps around their shop.

When the girl went to Sanjeev Kumar Rai's camp, he asked her to come inside in the pretext of giving 'prasad' and then raped her.

However, the girl managed to escape from the camp and later narrated her ordeal to her mother about the sexual assaults.

Later, the victim's mother moved to the local police station and file a written complaint against Rai. Acting on the complaint, the police formed a team and nabbed the seer from Jhusi area on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered at Jhusi police station under relevant sections of the IPC and Pocso Act.

In another case of sexual harassment, a 10-year-old boy was allegedly sodomised by youth from his village in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district.

The incident took place on Sunday under Bhopa police station, they said. According to a complaint lodged by the victim's family, the accused lured the boy to a field and sodomised him. The boy managed to get back home and narrated his ordeal to his parents, the police said. A case has been registered against the accused, who is absconding, they said.

The victim has been sent for medical examination, the police said.

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