Deccan Chronicle

Raids on to nab accused in Haryana gangrape

A 19-year-old girl was gangraped in the state on Friday

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Chandigarh, Sept. 14: Raids were being held to nab three men accused of raping a 19-year-old student after drugging her in Haryana’s Mahendarga­rh district, police said Friday, two days after she was allegedly abducted from a bus-stop on her way to a coaching centre.

The father of the young woman, a school topper who was felicitate­d by the government, said she could have been raped by eight to 10 men. The mother hit out at the police for allegedly failing to take action in the case and said her daughter was traumatise­d even as the accused “were roaming freely” after the incident. “She has named three accused, but when the horrific incident took place, she sensed that 8-10 persons could have been there,” the victim’s father told reporters in Rewari Friday, noting she was drugged by the accused.

The incident evoked sharp reaction from the Opposition, with former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda alleging a complete breakdown of the law and order situation. He demanded resignatio­n of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on moral grounds for the state’s alleged failure to protect its daughters.

“The chief minister should resign on moral grounds. There is complete breakdown of law and order machinery in Haryana. The latest shocking incident is not an isolated one. Criminals were on the run from Haryana when the Congress was in power, but crime graph has gone up ever since the BJP came to power,” Mr Hooda alleged. Mr Khattar told reporters in Rohtak the law will take its course and assured that culprits will be punished. “We are conducting raids and hope to make arrests soon,” Mahenderga­rh superinten­dent of police Vinod Kumar said raids were being held in Rewari and Mahenderga­rh districts and neighbouri­ng areas.

When asked if eight to 10 people could be involved in the gangrape, Mr Kumar said, “The victim has given a statement to the police in which she has named three accused.”

The victim’s mother said her daughter was traumatise­d after the incident. “The government talks about Beti BachaoBeti Padhao, but is this the price we have to pay for getting our daughters educated? The accused are roaming freely but police has failed to nab them,” she told reporters in her village in Rewari district.

“The police has failed to take any action. We were made to run from pillar to post before our complaint was taken. The FIR was registered at 1 am as the police kept citing jurisdicti­on issues making us shuttle between Rewari and Kanina,” she claimed. “All we want is justice,” the mother said. —PTI

SP Vinod Kumar said the three were named in the “zero FIR” which was transferre­d to them by the Rewari police Thursday.

 ??  ?? Accused Rohit Tomar in police custody.
Accused Rohit Tomar in police custody.

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