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Ghaziabad woman found in Haridwar was sedated, raped for a month; 2 arrested
Haridwar SSP Ajai Singh said the woman agreed to press charges about the crime after her husband came from Ghaziabad
DEHRADUN: A 30-year-old woman found on the streets of Haridwar district on August 5 was brought from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad last month on the pretext of getting her a job and was being repeatedly raped after being sedated, police said on Monday after arresting two men in connection with the case.
Police identified the two accused as Mohammed Shakib and Nadeem, both in their 20s, residents of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
Haridwar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ajai Singh said the Gangnahar police found the woman on the streets two days ago. She was unwell and was admitted to the Roorkee civil hospital. Singh said the woman started opening up about what happened to her on Sunday but did not give any formal complaint.
“We were counselling her. After gathering information about her family and background, a team was dispatched to Ghaziabad and her husband came over. The woman finally gave a complaint against one Shakib for raping and forcing her into prostitution and his wife Ayesha for her involvement in the crime. We immediately registered a case against them,” Singh added.
“During the course of the investigation, we came to know the woman came to Haridwar on July 7 along with accused Nadeem in search of work. Upon arriving here, Nadeem introduced him to Mohammed Shakib who sexually assaulted and forced her into prostitution by giving her sedatives,” he said.
A first information report (FIR) in this regard was registered against Mohammed Shakib and his wife Ayesha alias Khushi at Gangnahar under sections 376 (rape), and 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, with intent to commit an offence) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on Sunday. The police later added relevant sections of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act in the FIR.
“It was a human trafficking network. All other accused in the network will be arrested,” the SSP said, denying initial reports that the woman came to Haridwar as part of the Kanwar pilgrimage.
Superintendent of police (SP, Rural) SK Singh said the medical examination of the victim woman has been conducted and her statement before magistrate has been recorded.
The SP said efforts were on to arrest the accused Mohammed Shakib’s wife Ayesha.
Uttarakhand’s state women commission has also taken note of the case and asked the Director General of Police (DGP) to take strict action against the culprits.
