Ghaziabad: 22-year-old woman tortured by male friend, dumped outside petrol pump

A 22-year-old woman was allegedly subjected to physical torture by her 23-year-old male friend, who forcibly took her to Rishikesh on August 21 along with his three friends, and later dumped her near a petrol pump in Govindpuram, Ghaziabad, in a semi conscious condition on August 22, senior police officers said on Thursday

A 22-year-old woman was allegedly subjected to physical torture by her 23-year-old male friend, who forcibly took her to Rishikesh on August 21 along with his three friends, and later dumped her near a petrol pump in Govindpuram, Ghaziabad, in a semi conscious condition on August 22, senior police officers said on Thursday.

A human rights protection group, DK Foundation of Freedom and Justice, posted the pictures on X around 4.58pm on August 24 and alleged that the four men took the woman to Rishikesh and inflicted injuries on her body using a metal object, besides biting her, while trying to rape her. (Representational image)

The mother of the woman approached the police on August 24 and an FIR, naming the male friend and his three friends, all residents of Ghaziabad, was filed on her complaint at Kavi Nagar police station under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 309(4) (robbery), 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt), 74 (assault or use of criminal force) and 87 (kidnapping).

On Thursday, deputy commissioner of police Rajesh Kumar said the prime suspect has been arrested. “We arrested the prime suspect on Wednesday night and action is being taken against others. The woman and the prime suspect are known to each other since the past three years. He took her along saying they were going to Mussoorie (Uttarakhand) but they stayed at Rishikesh. Some fight happened between them. The woman told us said that the prime suspect got drunk and tried to get close to her and also beat her up, besides breaking her phone. His three friends joined them in Ghaziabad when they returned the next day,” the DCP said.

Police said several purported pictures of the alleged brutality were shared on social media last Saturday.

A human rights protection group, DK Foundation of Freedom and Justice, posted the pictures on X around 4.58pm on August 24 and alleged that the four men took the woman to Rishikesh and inflicted injuries on her body using a metal object, besides biting her, while trying to rape her.

The post also tagged the NHRC India, UP Police, DGP of UP POlice and the Ghaziabad police.

The pictures showed multiple severe injury marks and what appeared to be bite marks on the woman’s back, shoulder, cheeks, forehead and limbs. The tweet also stated that none of the suspects was arrested.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the post or the pictures.

In the FIR, the victim’s mother said the prime suspect collected her daughter from their house around 5pm on August 21 and took her to Rishikesh even though she wanted to return home at night.

“He took her phone and when she asked for it, he broke it. He forced himself on her and also beat her up… She was beaten again on the evening of August 22. Then, along with his three friends, he left her half-dead on the road near a petrol pump (in Ghaziabad). They also took her phone and also hacked her ID,” victim’s mother said in her complaint.

The family declined comment on the matter when contacted on Thursday.

Abhishek Srivastava, assistant commissioner of police, Kavi Nagar, said on Wednesday that the victim woman was taken for a medical examination and the injury marks are “contusions”, a type of tissue hematoma that occurs from a direct blow or repeated blows from a blunt object.

“First, we are trying to get recorded the statements of the victim before a magistrate. But, she has not come forward so far. There is no indication of rape in the medical examination,” Srivastava said.