Brutality on minor sparks fear across village in Raisen:Parents stop sending children to school, worried someone might abduct them

After the horrific assault on a minor, fear has engulfed a village near Gauharganj in Raisen district. Parents have stopped sending their children to school, and attendance at the local government school has dropped drastically. For the last three days, children from Anganwadi to Class 3 have stayed home, leaving classrooms deserted. Villagers say the atmosphere is “filled with fear,” and parents are unwilling to let their children step outside. A mother of two said, “My children refuse to go to school. They are scared someone might abduct them. They’ve been home for three days. I don’t even have the courage to accompany them to school.” Many households share the same story—places once filled with children’s laughter are now silent. Children have stopped playing outside, and parents keep them close at all times. Doctors at AIIMS Bhopal have confirmed that the injured child is stable and undergoing treatment. Accused has criminal history Police records show that the accused, Asif, has two previous cases against him: School attendance drops by 40% The principal of the local government school stated that attendance has fallen by 30–40 percent since the incident. “We held a parents’ meeting today. Many mothers and some fathers attended. Their fear was clearly visible. We are trying to reassure them, but the panic persists.” She added that teachers are constantly trying to boost the children’s morale and provide psychological comfort. Some parents have responded positively, and the school hopes attendance will soon improve. Nani displays blood-stained clothes, atmosphere turns emotional The situation turned deeply emotional at the protest site when the victim’s grandmother sat down, crying, with the child’s blood-stained clothes. Seeing the stains, several women and villagers broke down. “We can’t believe what was done to our child… we have never witnessed such brutality,” she said repeatedly. Villagers are demanding the accused be given the death penalty or be killed in an encounter. “This crime has shaken the soul of the village,” they added. Accused still absconding four days later Despite widespread outrage, the accused Salman remains untraceable even four days after the incident. Women and young girls from the village are staging all-night protests in the bitter cold. Their demand: “If police can’t arrest him, then conduct an encounter. At least that much justice we deserve.” Negligence alleged: Child waited two hours for ambulance Local resident Paresh Nagar said that when the child was taken to the government hospital in Obedullaganj, she suffered in pain for two hours because no ambulance arrived. “The BMO didn’t pick up the phone. The ambulance at the hospital was out of service. This is the state of our healthcare system.” Even after the SDM arrived, no ambulance was arranged. Eventually, villagers transported the child to AIIMS Bhopal in a private car. “This is not negligence—this is a crime,” Paresh said. How the crime happened On the evening of 21 November, the child was playing outside her home when accused Salman lured her with chocolates and took her towards the forest. Several villagers saw him walking with the child. Later, the girl was found in the forest, bleeding and in severe pain. Residents say the accused belongs to the Shyampur Dauraha area and had previously been externed from the district. “Despite this, he was living on rent in the village. Why was there no monitoring of such offenders? This is a major failure on the part of both the police and the panchayat,” villagers said. 300 policemen, 20 teams—but no arrest The police have deployed more than 300 personnel and formed 20 teams to search for the accused. But villagers question the progress: “He hasn’t gone far. How is he still not caught after four days?” CM removes Raisen SP for failure to arrest accused On Tuesday night, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav held a high-level meeting with senior officers at PHQ, expressing dissatisfaction over the failure to arrest the accused and the weak police action during public protests. He ordered the removal of Raisen SP Pankaj Pandey, attaching him to the headquarters.
Additionally: Misrod TI was shifted due to failure to control recent vandalism at a café in his jurisdiction.