PILIBHIT: Two employees of a mobile shop in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit district have been booked for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl in their shop, police said.
The victim was also employed at the shop and the incident took place when the owner was out for some work.
The accused have now been booked after the victim's father lodged a complaint with the police.
In the complaint, the victim's father said that his daughter, who is a student in class 11, was working at the shop for the past one-and-a-half years. After the incident, she narrated the ordeal to her family.
Her father complained to the shop owner who reprimanded the two youth, who then threatened to kill him.
Station House Officer, Jagat Singh, said, "The two accused have been booked under IPC sections 354A (use of criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage her modesty), 354B (use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe her), 352 (use of criminal force to any person otherwise than on grave and sudden provocation given by that person), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) and appropriate sections of the POCSO and SC/ST Act. They are yet to be arrested."
Meanwhile, the labour enforcement officer, Priyanka Verma, said that the employer of the minor girl was a defaulter of violating the labour laws prescribed in terms of employing an adolescent female worker, especially a student.
"An adolescent student can be employed by a businessman only under the valid permission of the labour enforcement officer. Such permission is granted based on certain relaxations to the adolescent employee during working hours which will mandatorily exclude the employee's school hours, " she added.
However, the victim's mother claimed that her daughter had been made to work constantly between 10 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. every day except the weekly closure day of the market.