Bhagalpur: The mother of a minor girl, who had allegedly been gangraped, had to approach deputy inspector-general (DIG) of police, Bhagalpur range, Vikash Vaibhav, after the Sabour police refused to register her complaint.

On Vaibhav's intervention, Sabour police on Tuesday evening registered the FIR and geared up to arrest three youths for outraging the minor's modesty. The mother, a resident of Sabour block, 231km east of Patna, alleged that the police initially refused to file the FIR because one of the accused, Biro Kumar Paswan, is the son of Anirudh Paswan, a chowkidar (village guard).

Sabour police on Wednesday sent the minor for tests, three days after the alleged crime. Earlier, in her complaint to the Bhagalpur DIG, the woman alleged that on April 15, she had left for work as a daily wage labourer, leaving her children behind. In the afternoon, Biro and two others, Bombam Mandal and Arbind Das, residents of Rajindipur in Sabour police station area, reached her house and told her minor daughter that had come to fetch her as her mother had lost consciousness.

When the girl emerged, the accused allegedly tied her up and gagged her mouth. "They took my daughter to a room near Sabour block and gangraped her," the woman said. "Next day, the accused sent my daughter back home after the chowkidar, Anirudh Paswan, threatened her with dire consequences if she opened her mouth."

DIG Vaibhav said he instructed Sabour police station to lodge a case after the minor's mother visited him. He also instructed Swamprabha, station house officer (SHO) of the Mahila police station, to assist Sabour police SHO Rajiv Kumar complete the formalities. "I even gave my vehicle so that she could reach Sabour police station quickly," Vaibhav said.

Asked what action he has taken against the police who initially refused to register FIRs, Vaibhav said: "I was told the woman hadn't mentioned rape before the police. When she narrated the incident before me, I asked cops to take appropriate action."