Couple stripped, beaten in Ah’nagar: Home min to appoint woman IPS officer to investigate case

Pune A 29-year-old rape complainant and her husband were allegedly kidnapped, stripped and assaulted by a group of eight to 10 people in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar

Pune A 29-year-old rape complainant and her husband were allegedly kidnapped, stripped and assaulted by a group of eight to 10 people in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, police officials said on Tuesday.

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According to officials, the attack happened to force the woman to withdraw a rape complaint.

According to Ahmednagar Superintendent of Police Sagar Patil, the incident occurred on February 24 in Aurangabad, and came to light after a video of the purported assault went viral on Tuesday.

The matter was raised in the Assembly in Mumbai by leader of the Opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Home minister Anil Deshmukh Home Minister said, “Amongst the accused are the brother, cousins and other relatives of the victim. All family members are involved in the gruesome incident, including the investigating officer. There are serious charges and we will have a woman IPS officer investigate the case. The inquiry will be complete in one month.”

According to the Ahmednagar police, the accused, including the woman’s brother and two unnamed police personnel, had asked the woman to withdraw a gang-rape case she had filed against them in 2016.

“In 2015, a cheating case was registered against the woman’s husband, who is an onion trader. In 2016, the woman filed a case against the complainant, a police officer investigating the cheating case, her father, brother and an unnamed relative, accusing all of rape,” said Ahmednagar SP Sagar Patil.

SP Patil further added that during the investigation into the rape case, no evidence was found. All the accused named in the case are out on anticipatory bail.

“In 2019 also, the woman had registered a case that she was kidnapped and beaten by the same persons named in the rape complaint,” Patil said.

In the present case, the woman alleged that on February 24, she and her husband were returning from a civil hospital in an autorickshaw when they were kidnapped.

“She and her husband were taken to an unknown place where eight to 10 people stripped them naked, poured petrol on them, assaulted them, and later released them,” Patil said.

“We have registered a case under various sections of the IPC, including of attempt to murder, kidnapping and molestation among others,” Patil said.