Bulldozer action against Madhya Pradesh man who raped neighbour, used chilli powder on her

Ayan Pathan, 24, is accused of holding the victim hostage for a month and raping and torturing her.

Published on: Apr 21, 2024, 18:48:36 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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Authorities in Madhya Pradesh's Guna on Sunday demolished the “illegally-built” house of a man accused of raping and torturing his neighbour for a month.

Bulldozer demolishing the accused's "illegally-built" home (Image courtesy: X/Anshul Saxena)

Visuals that emerged on social media showed a bulldozer razing the house of the accused, 24-year-old Ayan Pathan, who was allegedly also pressurising the victim to marry him.

Madhya Pradesh, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state, has seen several instances of “bulldozer justice," i.e. the machine being used to demolish “illegally-built” properties of alleged criminals.

The practice was started by the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, and, since then, has been implemented in other party-run states as well. It also earned Adityanath the moniker of “bulldozer baba.”

However, “bulldozer justice” has come under severe criticism from opposition parties and civil society, who say that such an action goes against the principle of national justice.

The Guna case

Pathan, who works as a labourer, also wanted their house, a police official quoted the woman's mother as saying.

“He (Pathan) used to put chilli powder on her (victim's) wounds, and glue on her lips and mouth to stop her from screaming. All this while, her mother was away in Shivpuri,” the official also said.

Meanwhile, the woman, who is hospitalised and stable, told the police that the man held her hostage and raped her repeatedly. She added that on Tuesday, she somehow managed to escape, but was chased down and caught by him.

Pathan was arrested on Wednesday night while supplying illegal liquor. He has been booked under Indian Penal Code’s (IPC) Sections 376 (rape), 294 (obscene language), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and under the Excise Act, and additional charges could also be slapped against him.

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HT News Desk
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