Teenage Red cadre alleges rape by Pahan

RANCHI: A teenage CPI(Maoist) cadre, who surrendered on Thursday, alleged that zonal commander Kundan Pahan raped her and threatened to kill her and her mother if she complained.
“We will lodge a case under Section 376 of the IPC against Pahan and whenever he is arrested, he will be prosecuted for it,” said Ranchi DIG Praveen Kumar.
Pahan is one of the most dreaded Maoists in Jharkhand.
During an interaction with mediapersons, the girl revealed that Maoists sexually exploit many girls but the victims do not dare open their mouths after the gun-toting rebels warn of dire consequences.
Maoists had forcibly inducted the girl, a resident of Namkum block in Ranchi district, into the outfit in 2009 when she was just 10 years old. Her aunt, whom she calls her mother, brought her up as she was orphaned while still a child.
“I moved from one place to another in the forest with Kundan Pahan, Prasadji and Kishanji (all top Maoists) and cooked for them along with some adult girls. Sometime in 2013, when I was sleeping alone in one of the camps in Khunti forest, Kundan came and raped me. He warned to kill my mother and me if I opened my mouth,” the girl said.
Before she was raped, Maoists had planned to solemnize her marriage with Gulshan, a member of Kundan Pahan’s group.
Despite being threatened, the girl narrated the incident to Gulshan who lodged a verbal complaint against Kundan in a regular meeting of the Maoists.
Kundan was summoned and asked to mend his ways. But he escaped from the camp when Maoists mooted a punishment for him, the girl told police.
Pahan carries a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head and has been blamed for most of the big Maoist incidents in south Chotanagpur division.
Police said he was a “womanizer” as well. “The last time I saw him in Khunti in 2013, he was surrounded by three girls,” said the girl.
DIG Singh said sexual harassment is rampant in Maoist camps.
A sum of Rs 50,000 was given to the girl under the state government’s Maoist surrender policy.
“She is very young and has not been directly involved in any major incident. She will be produced in court on Thursday,” said Singh.
The teenager revealed that Maoists sexually exploit many girls but the victims do not dare open their mouths after the gun-toting rebels warn of dire consequences