A 13-year-old girl from Ranchi was allegedly trafficked to Lucknow on a truck and on the way, she was "raped" by its driver multiple times before being left on a roadside, police said on Monday.
Two persons were arrested after a case was lodged at the Tamar police station in Ranchi on Sunday, they said.
The girl's family said she did not return from school on August 16, following which they lodged a missing person's complaint.
The girl told the investigators that she was taken to the Bundu bus stand on August 16 by a youth she knew and later she was taken to Patna by another youth who was also known to her, said Roshan Kumar, the in-charge of Tamar police station.
"The second youth left her in a truck in Patna and fled. The truck driver allegedly raped her and left her on a roadside in Lucknow," he said quoting the girl's statement.
"We have arrested the two youths on the basis of the FIR lodged on Sunday. There are several missing links in her statement. We are trying to connect them through various means," he said.
The case was filed under sections related to rape and human trafficking, besides the POCSO Act, he added.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Rati Bhan Singh told PTI, "We have started an investigation and are verifying the claims made by the victim in the complaint. The medical examination of the girl was being conducted." Child rights activist Baidyanath Kumar, who has been following the case after the registration of the missing person's complaint, claimed that the girl was "sold" to the truck driver in Patna.
"The girl was found on August 20 in Lucknow by the local police. They, then, handed her over to Rajkiya Balika Griha in Lucknow without registering any FIR," he claimed.
Baidyanath Kumar said the girl was brought to Tamar from Lucknow on September 1.
"Initially, the parents were not ready to lodge an FIR about the ordeal faced by the girl. Later, they agreed, and it was filed on Sunday," he said.
