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Punjab woman gangraped by six men in moving car
The incident comes at a time political parties in Punjab are stressing on women’s safety in the run up to assembly elections
A 22-year-old woman from Jalandhar was gang-raped by six men in a car on the way from Ludhiana to Hisar before being thrown out of the moving vehicle, police said on Wednesday.
The incident comes at a time political parties in Punjab are stressing on women’s safety in the run up to assembly elections.
Initially, a zero FIR was registered on the victim’s complaint by the Haryana Police in Hisar, which was further marked to the Division No. 5 police station in Ludhiana. “After receiving the zero FIR, dated January 31, we registered a case on our record on February 1, and started further investigation into the matter,” said Neeraj Chaudhary, station house officer, Division No. 5.
Those booked include Rakesh Kumar of Clock Tower area in Ludhiana, his five male accomplices and two women, including the victim’s cousin. They face charges under Sections 376D (gang rape), 356 (assault or criminal force in attempt to commit theft), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
According to the SHO, the victim was living in Jalandhar along with her cousin, who introduced her to a woman named Mamta (co-accused) to look for a prospective groom.
The victim told police that on January 31, Mamta, Rakesh and his five male accomplices took her to Ludhiana on a bus. On reaching the bus stand, Rakesh applied sindoor on her forehead and she was made to sit in a vehicle, she told police.
It was then that her ordeal began. According to the victim’s complaint, first Rakesh raped her and then his five accomplices took turns to rape her in the moving vehicle before throwing her out. After regaining consciousness, she managed to reach the Azad Nagar police station in Hisar and got a case registered. According to investigating officer Manju, the victim is still in Hisar and was yet to record her statement before the magistrate.
Two minors raped in Ludhiana
Meanwhile, a security guard has been arrested and another youth booked for raping minors in separate cases in Ludhiana district.
In the first case, Gurcharan Singh Bhan, 42, of Mohi village was arrested for raping a 12-year-old girl in area falling under Jodha police station in Ludhiana Rural. The security guard entered the girl’s house at a factory unit in Pamal on the pretext of drinking water while she was alone with her younger sister on January 27, said police.
He was caught on February 1, when the girl spotted him on a cycle and raised the alarm. The process of collecting his DNA samples is on, said investigating officer Rupinder Kaur.
In the second incident, the Jagraon police have booked Mandeep Singh, alias Nannu, 24, of Mohalla Dhuman for raping a minor. According to the victim’s mother, the accused had been stalking her daughter for nearly a year, and even shifted to their locality to lure the minor.
Besides developing physical relations with her, the accused allegedly clicked the girl’s objectionable pictures and started blackmailing her. Investigating officer Charanjit Kaur said raids are being conducted to nab the youth.
