Gujarat village tense: Girl sexually assaulted, thrown into river; locals claim black magic ritual, cops deny

VADODARA: A five-year-old girl from a village in Anand district's Anklav taluka was allegedly sexually assaulted and thrown into the river near Sindhrot on the outskirts of Vadodara by a married man known to her family.Even as many residents of the village insisted that the accused performed a tantric ritual on the girl, police dismissed the claims.The girl went missing from the village on Aug 30, and a massive search operation was undertaken by teams of Anand police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) in the Mini River, where the accused threw her.On Monday, police confirmed that the accused, who was rounded up the same day, confessed to sexually assaulting her. He was seen in the CCTV footage leaving the village with the victim on a bike.Tension has been prevailing in the village as well as in Anklav town ever since the girl went missing. Some villagers told media persons that the accused performed the tantric ritual a day before his wife's baby shower, as a sacrifice for having a son. Scores of villagers are also camping outside the Anklav police station, demanding immediate action from the police.Anand district superintendent of police Gaurav Jasani said, "Neither the victim's family has made such allegations nor have the investigators got any evidence of black magic being performed on the girl. It's a case of sexual assault.""Our teams are present at the place of the crime near the river. In all probability, the accused threw the body into the river. Our teams are extensively searching for the body, but the strong currents of the water, given the rainy conditions, are a challenge," he said.(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)