Bijaynagar shut over ‘sex abuse’ case; remand of accused extended

Ajmer: A total shutdown was observed in Bijaynagar town of Beawar district on Friday in response to a bandh call by various right-wing and trade organisations in connection with an alleged case of "sexual abuse" of schoolgirls by some local men, mostly teenagers.As many as 21 organisations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, had called the daylong bandh over the case, in which nine men have already been arrested and two minor boys detained. All shops in Bijaynagar remained closed, and different communities came on the road for a rally and a procession against this crime. Sajjan Singh, the deputy SP of Masuda, said the bandh remained peacefully and that security measures were in place.Members of the 21 organisations held a rally in the town and also took out a procession up to the SDM's office as part of observing the bandh. At both events, they were heard chanting slogans calling for death penalty for all the accused and bulldozing of their houses. Bijaynagar Municipality bulldozed the two-storey house of an accused in the town on Thursday after declaring it an encroachment. The building had a cafe where the accused allegedly called the schoolgirls to meet them.The nine accused men were presented at a POCSO court in Ajmer on Friday after their police remand ended. Judge Rajesh Bijlani of POSCO court No. 1 extended the police remand of five of them for five more days and that of the four others for four more days.Like in their previous and first appearance in court, no bail application was moved for the accused on Friday as they were not represented by any lawyer. The local lawyers have reportedly decided not to represent them. Like during their previous appearance at court, the accused were subjected to violence by a section of angry advocates, who charged at them to beat them up despite the heavy security arrangement on Friday."Several members of the local bar have approached us and demanded that we decide to not represent any of the accused in this case," said Ashok Rawat, president of Ajmer District Bar Association.
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