Two arrested for gangrape of Russian tourist in Manali

THE TOURIST WAS ASSAULTED BY THE DUO WHILE SHE WAS RETURNING TO HER GUEST HOUSE IN MANALI

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Police on Wednesday arrested two youth allegedly involved in the gangrape of a Russian tourist in Manali in October.

“Police arrested two persons, one from Kangra and the other from Nepal,” superintendent of police Shalini Agnihotri said.

The superintendent of police said,“One of the accused Sanjay Kumar is a resident of Palampur and the other Sanjay Tamang is a Nepalese. Both the accused will be produced in the court of chief judicial magisterate in Kullu.”

The Russian woman, who was on a study tour to Manali in the last week of October had alleged that two unidentified persons had assaulted her when she was returning to the guest house in old Manali.

The incident had taken place at Bajoghi, an isolated place on the way between the famous Hadimba temple and old Manali.

The police had constituted three teams to investigate the case.

In November, police had released the sketch of a person allegedly involved in the incident and later announced a reward of ₹50,000 to the person who provides information about the criminal.

Police sleuths in Manali had recovered a scarf from the incident site, which was sent for forensic examination.

The medical examination of the Russian women had confirmed that she was sexually assaulted. A case was registered under section 376-D (rape by two or more persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention) of the Indian Penal Code at Manali police station.

“We scanned as many as 5,000 call details and questioned 700 people to gather information. It was during the investigation that the police zeroed on Sanjay Tamang and later interrogated him,” the SP said.

Police investigation revealed that both the persons involved in crime had allegedly attacked the Russian tourist and snatched her mobile phone and ATM card when she was returning to her guest house on October 25 in Manali.

This is the second incident this year wherein a foreign tourist was sexually assaulted in Manali.

In May, a Japanese woman was allegedly raped by a local taxi driver. In 2016, an Israeli tourist was also raped in the town.