Dalit Teenager's Family Learns of Life Sentences for Abductors 19 Years After Disappearance

The family of a Dalit teenager who was raped, learnt from TOI that five accused had been sentenced to life imprisonment

ALIGARH: The family of a dalit teenager who was abducted in 2007 to stop her from testifying in her own rape case learnt from TOI on Saturday that five accused had been sentenced to life imprisonment, nearly 19 years after the girl disappeared and never returned home. In Barhad village, the news left her mother, Achlaa Devi, 65, silent for several moments. She sat on an old cot beside a clay stove, with a few aluminium utensils stacked nearby, before speaking of a case that took away her daughter, husband and the family's small means of survival. "We are happy, but this has come at great cost. We lost our daughter. We lost my husband Pramod, who spent years fighting this case. We sold our only three bighas of land and our buffalo. Now we have almost nothing left," she said.

‘One accused was acquitted, hope he’s brought to justice’

The verdict was delivered last week by special judge-II, SC/ST Act, Pratibha Saxena, who held that the abduction was a deliberate attempt to remove a key witness and derail the trial. The court also noted that the girl, Niti Jatav, 19 at the time, remains untraceable despite nearly two decades of investigation. For the family, the order brought relief, but not closure. No official had informed them of the verdict before TOI reached their home. Achlaa now lives with her two sons, both daily-wage labourers, and their wives in a modest two-room house with unplastered walls, a few worn-out cots and a table. Her other daughter is married and lives in another village. The family said the father, Pramod, had spent years pursuing the case before he died in 2020, after which the elder son took over the responsibility of following court proceedings. Rakesh Jatav, the girl’s younger brother, said he was a teenager when his sister was taken and remembers his father repeatedly leaving home for police stations, lawyers’ offices and courts. “I saw my father run from police station to lawyers and courts for years. We are grateful that the court has sentenced the accused to life imprisonment, but one accused was acquitted despite, in our belief, playing a major role in the crime. We hope he is also brought to justice,” he said. Family counsel Ismail Khan said the case began in 2007 when an FIR was registered after the teenager, who worked as a daily-wage labourer in an orchard owned by the accused, was allegedly kidnapped and raped. Police later arrested the accused, rescued the survivor and registered a rape case at Vijaygarh police station. After securing bail, the accused allegedly pressured the family to compromise, and when the family refused, they allegedly abducted the survivor again a few months later with the help of a neighbouring woman to prevent her from appearing before court. Khan said the girl’s father repeatedly approached local police after the second abduction, but no FIR was registered. He then moved court, which directed police to register a case under IPC sections 363 and 364 and provisions of SC/ST Act against six accused, including the woman. On May 22, 2026, all accused were acquitted in the rape case because the survivor could not be produced before court. On July 30, 2026, five were convicted in the kidnapping case and sentenced to life imprisonment, while one accused was acquitted. As per the FIR lodged by the girl’s father on Sept 28, 2007, the accused allegedly entered the family’s village home armed with country-made pistols and abducted her because she was the complainant and key witness in the rape case. “Multiple teams were constituted... but no breakthrough could be achieved,” a police official said.Vijaygarh SHO Satish Chand said, “We are examining the old case records to gather more details. As far as I know, the girl has not been traced so far. Under law, a person missing for seven years may be presumed dead... though that does not mean the person has been officially declared dead in every case.” (First names of the survivor and her family members have been changed)