Katihar, May 23: One person lodged a complaint (case No. CA 1227) in the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Sujit Kumar Shrivastava yesterday, accusing Jitan Sah of raping his minor daughter.

According to sources, the 55-year-old man had allegedly been raping the 13-year-old for the past six months and when she became pregnant, he bullied her parents to make the girl undergo abortion at a private clinic on May 15.

The CJM, after hearing the petition today, ordered Kursela police station house officer to register an FIR in connection with the complaint. Jitan, a small-time businessman, is absconding after he came to know that a case of rape has been registered at the court. During a panchayat, he refuted charges of raping the girl.

The girl's counsellor, Subhash Jha, said: "The court of chief judicial magistrate Sujit Kumar Shrivastava today ordered Kursela police station house officer to institute a case of rape against Jitan and take appropriate action against him according to law."

The girl's brother said: "We never thought that a 55-year-old man could outrage the modesty of my sister for the sake of a bucket of water." The girl told The Telegraph over phone: "We do not have a hand pump so I used to go to my neighbour's house for a bucket of water. Jitan Sah kept raping me after gagging my mouth with clothes. When I protested, he threatened to kill my family members. Lack of water necessitated me to go to his house and he kept on violating me."

She added: "I was suffering from pregnancy complications about which I was unaware. I had unbearable stomach pain and my brother took me to hospital where my pregnancy was discovered. After a lot of coaxing by my brother, I disclosed the truth."