Days after a 13-year-old daughter was allegedly raped by a 22-year-old man at a hotel, leading to her dying by suicide, the victim’s father said he will fight for justice “no matter what”.
The minor, a resident of Modinagar in Ghaziabad, had come into contact with the accused, Himanshu Soni, via Instagram five to six months before the incident. A police officer said, “On June 17, Soni went to her house to meet her. He offered her some chocolate and water, following which she became unconscious. He then took her to a hotel on his bike and raped her.”
The victim’s 36-year-old father, who works as a gym trainer, said he was only informed about the incident on June 18 at 7.30 p.m. “I returned home from the gym and noticed my daughter sitting quietly. She barely moved when I entered the room, which was strange, since she usually gets very excited to see me. When I kept asking her what had happened, she broke down and told me,” the father said.
The minor told her father she was threatened by the accused as he had recorded her videos and said he would make them viral if she told anybody.
“We headed straight to Soni’s house. His family misbehaved with us and even tried to reach a compromise, but we stood firm and told them we will seek justice. We went to the police station and filed a complaint,” the father said, recounting his daughter’s last words where she expressed fear over what Soni’s family would do now that he had approached the police.
On June 19, the family took the victim to different hospitals for a medical examination. Till the time they returned home at 4.30 p.m., she had “hardly eaten anything”.
“At 7.30 p.m., when I woke up from a nap, I couldn’t find my daughter in her room. When I went upstairs, I noticed a door was locked. When I broke it open, I saw my daughter’s body. I held her in my arms and promised I would fight for justice,” the father said. They took her to three different hospitals, but all doctors declared her dead.
Soni, also a resident of Modinagar, works with his father, a goldsmith, said police. He has since been booked under IPC sections 376 (rape), 363 (kidnapping), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison), 506 (criminal intimidation), as well as sections of the POCSO Act. The police have also arrested Ankit Singh, 30, and his brother Atish Singh, 31, who own the hotel where the alleged rape took place.
“The accused is friends with the owners of the hotel and often took women there. On the day of the incident, he entered the hotel and was not asked for an ID, neither did he make an entry for the minor girl he brought with him,” said an officer.
Shattered dreams
The incident angered several locals and women-led organisations with protests erupting outside administrative offices in Ghaziabad, demanding justice for their “beti” and strict punishment to the accused.
“My daughter wasn’t just an ordinary kid. She had so many dreams. She was excellent at sports, she recently won a silver medal in taekwondo, and she was learning karate too. I have only ever seen her talk about achieving her goals. She had told me she wanted to pursue sports as a career. Now, we are left with nothing. Our child is gone, and so are the dreams she dreamt,” her father said, his voice cracking.
The victim’s family will donate their daughter’s clothes to other children. “We also want to donate her school books. If another child gets to study from her books, it will make us feel like she lives on,” he said.
His 35-year-old wife has remained inconsolable since her daughter’s death. “She is gone, but we will keep fighting the case against the man who did this to her,” she said.
Published - July 02, 2024 12:58 am IST
