Varanasi: A 12-year-old girl was allegedly sold by her mother for Rs 16,000 and 10 saris, repeatedly raped by a 40-year-old man in Chandauli, and later sexually assaulted again by an auto driver in Varanasi after being abandoned near a railway station, police said.According to Sarnath police, the girl was found roaming and crying in the area on May 21 after locals alerted officers. She was produced before the Child Welfare Committee, where her statement revealed a sequence of trafficking, sexual assault and abandonment involving multiple accused.ACP Sarnath Vidush Saxena said the girl disclosed that her mother, a resident of Bihar, allegedly sold her in Jan to Lahru Yadav alias Rakesh of Chandauli. Police said Yadav paid Rs 16,000 in cash and gave 10 saris to the mother before taking the child away.Investigators said Yadav, a widower living separately from his family after the death of his first wife, staged a fake marriage with the minor at a temple in Chahania area of Chandauli. He then allegedly raped her repeatedly and forced her to work as domestic help.During investigation, police also found that Yadav reportedly spent around Rs 90,000 on a hair transplant in Delhi to appear younger before the sham marriage. Officers said villagers warned him that keeping a minor girl as his wife could land him in serious legal trouble.Police said Yadav later abandoned the girl near Banaras railway station at Manduadih on May 19. There, an auto driver identified as Ravi Verma of Jharkhand allegedly approached her, promised to help reunite her with her mother, and then raped her near a pond in Sarnath.Fearing arrest, Verma allegedly abandoned the girl on May 21 and fled. She was later rescued by police.On May 22, Sarnath police registered a named FIR on the complaint of the survivor against her mother, Yadav and Verma under Sections 64(2m), 65(1), 143(4), 144(1) and 115(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant provisions of the POCSO Act.Sarnath inspector Pankaj Kumar Tripathi said all three accused were arrested from different locations on Saturday.
