MP: Accused approached victims after hearing loud music, all 6 men arrested
INDORE/BHOPAL: All six men who attacked two Army officers and allegedly raped their woman friend near Mhow in Madhya Pradesh have been arrested, police said on Friday.
Three of the accused — Rohit Girwal (23), Sandeep Wariya (18) and Sachin Makwana (25) — were held during the day from a forest patch near the site of crime. The trio was on the run and a reward of Rs 10,000 each had been announced for their arrests.
Three other accused, Anil Baror (27) and Pawan Bansunia (23) and Ritesh Bhabhar (25), were held over the last two days, police said.
The attack occurred near Jam Gate, a popular tourist spot some 30 kilometres from the Mhow military cantonment, on the intervening night of September 10 and 11, police said.
Located on the Vindhyachal ranges, Jam Gate is surrounded by forests. In the rainy season, this place is frequented by tourists during the day, but as the night falls, it gets desolate.
According to the police, the army officers, aged 23 and 24, undergoing the Young Officers course at the Infantry School in Mhow cantonment town, had gone out for a picnic with their two women friends.
“The four were listening to loud music. Hearing it in the deserted area late at night, six accused reached the spot and committed the crime,” Superintendent of Police (Rural) Hitika Vasal told journalists.
One of the attackers threatened the victims with a pistol, while the others were carrying sticks, Vasal said.
The accused held one couple hostage while assaulting them and told the other couple that the hostages would be released only if they brought them Rs 10 lakh, she said.
Vasal said the police reached the spot as soon as the incident was reported, “but the accused fled on seeing the headlight of the police vehicle.”
A case was registered under sections 70 (gang rape), 310-2 (dacoity), 308-2 (extortion) and 115-2 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under sections of the Arms Act.
On the allegation of rape mentioned in the FIR, the SP said the victim is in a state of shock and is not ready to give her statement.
In the meantime, the accused are being questioned about the alleged rape, Vasal added.
Another police official rubbished speculation on social media that the army personnel and the women had come in contact through a dating app.
After police reached the spot, the officers and their women friends were brought to Mhow civil hospital, where a medical examination confirmed that one of the women was raped, an official said.
The incident has sent shockwaves in the state with the Congress on Friday alleging that some BJP workers and their relatives were behind the attack.
The ruling BJP, however, rubbished the allegation and accused the opposition party of creating a “false perception” on the issue. It also said the state government is very sensitive in such matters and that the accused in the Mhow case will not be able to escape.
Talking to reporters, MP Congress president Jitu Patwari said: “It has been proven again that whenever incidents like rape and atrocities against women come to the fore, the names of BJP workers and leaders crop up.
Behind the Mhow incident also, the names of BJP workers, their relatives and also the kin of other party leaders have cropped up.”
“What message does it give? It shows that there is a rule of mafia and rapists, and others are indulging in such acts without any fear of administration and government. I want to ask (Chief Minister) Mohan Yadav - how is it possible that in your administration, party workers have got a free run to do anything?” he said.
In all such incidents against Dalits, adivasis (tribals) and women, why there are persons linked to the BJP behind, he asked, and termed Madhya Pradesh as the “most unsafe state” in the country.
