Khunti gangrape accused arrested in Jharkhand

JAMSHEDPUR/KHUNTI: Jharkhand police on Sunday arrested Pathalgadi masterminds and main accused John Jonas Tudu and Balram Samad in the gangrape of five tribal girls in Kochang jungles of Khunti district on June 19. The arrests came after police nabbed the perpetrators trying to sneak out of the state to Maharashtra.

BHOPAL/DEWAS: A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped over three days by four men in Dewas district, 153 km southwest of state capital Bhopal, police said on Sunday.

Two of the accused allegedly gang-raped her under the pretext of helping her reach home as she had travelled 40 km away from it on July 16. Police arrested all the four accused on Saturday.

Sajjan Singh Mukati, Nemawar town police inspector, said, “The 15-year-old victim had gone to Indore, 40 km away from her home, alone, without informing her parents on July 16 to meet a man but she didn’t find him. She boarded a bus on the same day to come back home to Dewas but fell asleep during the journey. When she woke up, she found herself at Nasrullahganj town in Sehore, 150 km away from her home, on July 17. The bus conductor, Ishwar Jat, assured the girl help and took her to a secluded place where he raped her whole night. He left her at deserted a place after the crime.”

“The girl was then seeking the help of people in town to get back home when two youth, Sanjay Meena and Gopal Meena, offered to help her and took her to a school building where they held her captive and gang-raped her for two days. She, somehow, managed to flee and reached her neighbouring village where she met an acquaintance with whom she shared her ordeal and requested help, ” said the officer.

However, Mukati said on the pretext of helping the girl, the acquaintance took her to a secluded area where he also raped her. She was found near her village during a search by her father on Friday, said Mukati.