NEW DELHI: A pregnant Dalit girl was gang-raped in Banswara district of India, following which her eight-week fetus died.
The heinous crime came to light when four of the five rape accused, arrested a day earlier, were produced in a court on Monday.
The 19-year-old girl, who and was two-month pregnant, was allegedly violated by the five in the intervening night between July 13 and 14. The ferocity of the sexual assault was such that her fetus did not survive and she had to undergo medical termination of pregnancy, police said.
According to police, the gruesome crime happened when the girl was going from Banswara town to her village with her boyfriend on a bike around 10 pm on July 13. Three of the accused — Sunil, Vikas and Jitendra — stopped the couple and attacked the boyfriend with swords and iron rods.
The trio snatched his mobile phone and forced him to leave the spot. The boyfriend returned to his village and committed suicide by hanging from a tree within a few hours of the incident as he could not save her from the criminals.
Banswara police district circle officer Parbati Lal said the three men, all drunk, then took the girl to an isolated spot close to the city and gang-raped her. The trio then took her to Sunil’s village, where they called two more of their friends — Naresh and Vijay — who also raped her.
After committing the crime, the five abandoned the girl on the road around 4 am on July 14, Lal said, adding that the matter remained under wraps as the girl did not report it to anyone.
Police got wind of the crime, once they arrested Jitendra. Jitendra had given the handset, which was snatched away from the boyfriend, to his wife and when she switched it on, police traced the location. They found that on July 13 the survivor had made calls to the number.
Police followed it up and reached the survivor to investigate the suicide. She was undergoing medical treatment during this time and had not informed anyone about the gang-rape. She finally revealed it to police, who registered a case of gang-rape and abduction.
On July 26, the cops arrested Jitendra, whom the survivor identified as one of the rapists.
Police arrested the remaining four on Sunday, though the survivor is yet to go for the identification parade. Her statement in front of the district magistrate will also be recorded later this week.
