Etah (UP), Apr 4 (IANS): Four years after he and his friends gang-raped a 16-year-old Dalit girl, the main accused uploaded a video of the incident on social media and has been arrested.

According to sources, the incident took place in May 2019, but no FIR was lodged by the girl or her family fearing social stigma.

The girl, a class 10 student then, had to drop out of school and was married off in 2021.

Last week, her father filed a police complaint stating that the three accused contacted his daughter again and asked her to meet them. Upon refusing their advances, the main accused, the former pradhan's son, uploaded a clip of the assault online, and also shared it with the girl's in-laws.

"After all that happened, my daughter had somehow moved on. Now, they are trying to disrupt her married life. Frustrated over this, when I went to the ex-village head's house to complain about his son's wrongdoings, I was humiliated and abused with casteist slurs. They even threatened to kill me if I took legal action. Now that I have filed an FIR, the families of the accused men are pressuring us to withdraw the case. I am worried that we might have to leave the village," said the victim's father, who works as a labourer.

Additional superintendent of police (ASP), Dhananjay Singh Kushwaha, said, "On the basis of the complaint received, an FIR has been registered under sections of POCSO Act, SC/ST Act, IT Act, Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act and various other sections of IPC including 376-D (gangrape). The former pradhan's son has been arrested and sent to jail following court orders. One of his accomplices is already in jail in connection with an attempt to murder case and the third accused is absconding. Efforts are on to nab him."