MP: 45-yr-old woman gang-raped, 4 arrested

BHOPAL: A 45-year-old woman was gangraped and injured by four men in Sidhi district, 672km east of Bhopal, late Saturday night. The woman was rushed to a hospital in Sidhi, from where she was referred to Rewa in a serious condition on Sunday.

Police arrested all the four men on Sunday night. They will be produced before the court, said Manjulata Patle, additional superintendent of police, Sidhi. State home minister Narottam Mishra told reporters in Bhopal on Monday that no culprit will be spared. A speedy trial will be conducted into the case and the accused will be punished, he said. According to the police official, the woman ran a shop from her shanty to earn her livelihood, the official said.

“On Saturday late night, the men tried to enter her house late at night on the pretext of asking for water. When the woman refused to give them water, the men broke into her house, raped her and injured her with an iron rod,” Patle said.

The woman subsequently fainted due to excessive bleeding, he said, adding that her two teenage sons were not at home at the time of the incident.

Her sister could not call anyone for help at that time as their house is located in a desolate place, the police official said.

Later, the woman’s sister called an auto-rickshaw from Hardi village and took her to Amiliya police station, from where she was taken to Sidhi district hospital and later referred to a medical facility in Rewa, he said. The men fled the spot. The woman informed the police with the help of neighbours, said Patle. Based on the complaint, a case has been registered against the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, he said. Doctors at Rewa hospital performed a surgery on the woman Monday and her condition is stated to be stable, said the police officer.