19-yr-girl kidnapped, allegedly raped in moving car in Shimla

Shimla: In a shocking incident, which is a chilling reminder of a similar case in Delhi in 2012, a 19-year old girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped in a moving car in the capital town of Shimla on Sunday night.

Reports said the victim, who hailed from a neighbouring state, informed about the incident over 'Gudiya helpline"—a 24X7 facility launched by the BJP government immediately on its return to power in 2017-18 to check crime against women.

The police confirmed late Monday evening that an FIR has been registered at Dhalli police station on the basis of the information provided by the victim.

"We have set-up an investigation team under Deputy SP (City) Yogesh Dutt for investigations. The medical examination of the girl has also been done at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) hospital, Shimla. The report is awaited," said a spokesman of the police here.

Information gathered by the Millennium Post revealed that the victim was returning from the Mall road late night after spending her time with some friends. She was waylaid by some persons in the car, who drove her away from the town's Sanjauli locality towards Bhattacufer bypass area.

The girl claimed that she was forcibly dragged into the car and was allegedly raped in the moving vehicle. She tried to save herself and also raise noise but the accused over-powered her.

The police have not, so far, released much of the details asserting that the matter was under investigations. The girl since was also under trauma has not been able to give exact details of the site number of accused persons in the car, and even also their identifications.

"Once the investigations make any headway, we will be able to provide the information to the media," said a senior police officer assuring that the guilty will be nabbed very soon.

The issue is likely to become a major poll issue in Himachal Pradesh – a state which has not yet come out of the shock of Kotkhai rape and murder case of a 16-year old school girl in 2017.

The case was investigated by the CBI on orders of the High Court after massive agitation of the citizens' groups, joined by the BJP and political outfits. The agitated mob had also set afire Kotkhai police station in July 2017, when the accused Suraj, who was arrested by the Police SIT, died in the custody.

The CBI had arrested IG rank officer, former SP of Shimla and a Deputy SP beside other policemen in the custodial

death case.