Sunil’s victims who managed to escape, narrate tales of horror

She was ten-year-old and yet was afraid of the dark. But darkness never scared her while she was in the company of her friends. On December 13, 2016, she was returning from school with two of her friends in the dingy lanes of Ashok Nagar’s Block- A area. 

She had almost reached her home when Sunil Rastogi slithered his way into the group. Wearing a stripped sweater and jeans, he had been stalking the ten-year-old for some time. As soon as the girl was alone, he struck a conversation with her.

“He suddenly came and asked me my name and then went on to ask me my father’s name. I told him everything; after which he told me that my father had sent him. He told me that he wanted to give me some clothes that my father had sent me. He asked me to follow him,” said the ten-year-old girl.

She never suspected anything was amiss and followed him to the nearest Shiv Mandir. Sunil marched forward while she tried to catch up with him, lest she misses out on what her father had wanted to give her.

However, Sunil and the girl were intercepted by a man, who asked them as to where she was headed. Sunil took  out his phone and pretends to be in conversation with the girl’s father. “He told the man that he was talking to my father and managed to convince the man who let us carry on. He then took me to a building. It was really dark and as I was scared of the dark. I told him that I wanted to see my mother. But he kept insisting to follow him after which I ran,” she said.

She was lucky enough to have survived Sunil Rastogi but countless others did not meet with the same fate. The residents of Ashok Nagar have claimed in A block alone, at least ten girls were targeted by Sunil. Many have claimed that their daughters have not gone out of their homes since they met Sunil. Some victims’ families have also stopped the girls from attending their schools and tuition.

On the same day, when the ten-year-old met him, a shopkeeper’s daughter, who was out to get stationary items, also met with the same fate. “We never contacted the police as she managed to escape unscathed and I had also met with an accident. He lured my daughter into an abandoned building but she raised an alarm and due to the dark, managed to wrest free.”

A day before the two incidents, Sunil had approached another nine-year-old girl, who was accompanied by her brother. “He told her that her father had something for her. When she followed him, he asked her brother to wait for her. He later tried to get her inside the building. When she asked for her mother, he slapped her and once a commotion was created, he fled. CCTV footage of the incident were taken but since his face did not appear, no action could be taken,” said the girl’s relative.