MANALI AGAIN, RUSSIAN TOURIST GANGRAPED

HORROR Three teams formed to identify and nab culprits

: A 33-year-old Russian woman was allegedly gangraped by two unidentified men in the tourist town of Manali in Kullu district on Thursday night. The woman told cops that two men assaulted a local youth accompanying her to guest house where she was staying before dragging her into their vehicle.

: A 33-year-old Russian woman was allegedly gangraped by two unidentified men in the tourist town of Manali in Kullu district on Thursday night.

The woman, who is part of a research group and arrived in the resort town last week, in her complaint told the police that the two men assaulted a local youth accompanying her to the guest house where she is staying before dragging her inside their vehicle.

Then they drove off to an isolated place between the Hadimba Temple and Old Manali where they sexually assaulted her, the complainant alleged.

Kullu superintendent of police (SP) Shalini Agnihotri, who reached Manali on Friday evening to supervise the investigation, said, “We have registered a case and formed three teams to identify and nab the culprits. The probe is on in the case.”

The case was registered under

relevant sections, including 376-D (rape by two or more persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Manali police station and the matter is investigated by station house officer (SHO) Anil Kumar.

The police also took the rape victim to the crime spot. Sniffer dogs were also used to get some clue about the culprits.

The victim was taken to a local hospital for medical examination.

This is the second incident this year wherein a foreign tourist has been 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 popular resort town.

Besides, police had arrested three men from Punjab’s Bathinda district on charges of raping two girls in the town in June this year. The three youths were arrested.

The case had come to light after a woman filed a complaint at the Kullu women police station that her daughter, a minor, went missing from school along with her friend.

After filing a missing report and registering a case of kidnapping, police traced the two girls to Manali. The girls alleged that they were raped in a hotel.