Bhopal hostel rape: Court extends accused's custody by 1 day

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A special court here today extended by one day the police remand of a hostel director accused of raping and molesting four deaf and mute women inmates, a senior official said.

Ashwini Sharma, director of a hostel for deaf and mute women in Awadhpuri in Bhopal, has been accused by four women of rape and molestation and police have invoked sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against him. Sharma was presented today before special judge Pankaj Gaud of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act court which extended his police custody by one day, Superintendent of Police (SP) South Rahul Kumar Lodha told PTI.

Lodha, who is heading a special investigation team (SIT) constituted to probe the case, said that police had to speak to more inmates of Sharma's hostel since it believed that more inmates could have been sexually assaulted. Sharma was arrested by Awadhpuri police on August 8 based on the complaint of a deaf and mute tribal girl who accused him of repeatedly raping her during her stay in the hostel over the last three years.

On August 9, two sisters, who had previously stayed in the hostel, also filed a case of molestation against the accused, following which the police slapped charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act since one of them was a minor when the alleged incident took place in 2017.

On August 11, a fourth victim filed a complaint accusing Sharma of raping her after showing her pornographic material. The opposition Congress has alleged that Sharma's hostel was funded by the Madhya Pradesh government, a charge denied by its Social Justice Minister Gopal Bhargava.

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