HEAVYpublic outrage was wit nessed in Mandideep on Monday against the rape of a six-year-old girl in Gauharganj, Raisen dis trict. Members of the Sakal Hindu Samaj blocked the Bhopal Mandideep Highway starting at 11 am, causing long queues of vehicles on both sides of the road. As the crowd grew, the police resorted to a lathi charge to con trol the situation and disperse the protesters. A large contingent of police force was deployed at the scene.

 

Protesters demand quick arrest: The primary demand of the protesters is the immediate arrest of the accused. Three days have passed since the incident, but the police have yet to appre hend the suspect. The police have formed several teams to search for the accused and are con ducting continuous searches in the surrounding areas, yet no clue has been found regarding the perpetrator.

 

Earlier, a road blockade was also carried out near the Obaidullaganj Bypass junction, leading to long lines of traffic on the Bhopal, Jabalpur, Betul and Nagpur routes. The entire incident took place on Friday evening. The accused, 23 year-old Salman alias Nazar, a res ident of Gauharganj, arrived at a village. He reportedly lured a six-year-old girl playing outside her house with a chocolate bought from a shop and forcibly took her towards the forest.

 

When the child was not found nearby for some time, her fam ily members went looking for her. and in a serious condition. A local Bajrang Dal worker rushed the child to AIIMS Bhopal in his car, where she is currently undergoing treat ment. The accused fled imme diately after the incident. SDOP Sheela Surana stated that a continuous search oper ation is being conducted to locate the accused. She con firmed that traffic was affect ed due to the highway block ade. “The police peacefully reasoned with the people, but some individuals were attempting to cause mischief.

 

Such people have been stopped,” she said. The police are continuing to conduct raids for the accused’s arrest.