Bhopal: Being gang raped by four men is horrific enough but hearing from the police that the minor vctim’s story is ‘filmy’ can only come as a harsh slap on an already bruised face.
A 19-year-old girl was on her way back home from her coaching classes, in one of the busiest parts of the city, when she was captured by four men and dragged off into the bushes. They tied and raped her for three hours, stopping only to take tea and gutka breaks in between.
But, after the girl mustered courage to seek justice, the reaction of police came as a shock. Adding to the plight of the young woman and her parents, the police dismissed their case saying that it was a ‘filmy’ story. The victim, a student preparing for her UPSC exams and her family had to bounce from station to station till they came across two of the accused on their way back from one of the police stations. The parents managed to overpower the two accused and dragged them to the police station.
Only after being confronted with the perpetrators did the police finally register a complaint and start their investigation.
Sub-inspector RN Tekam has been suspended for delaying the filing of the case by 11-hours, said senior officer Dharmendra Singh.
Five more police officers have been suspended today after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan met with senior officials.
The assault took place near the city’s Habibganj Railway station, and only around 100 metres from a railway police post.
One of the accused, Golu Bihari, is out on bail in the case of the murder of his daughter. Golu and his brother in-law Amar Bhuntu were consuming alcohol where the woman was walking back home. They dragged her to a deserted culvert and committed the horrendous crime.
The woman was beaten and tied to prevent her from fighting back. When she asked for clothes, as hers were in tatters, one of the accused went to get some clothes and returned with two more men.
They took turns sexually assaulting her till 10 pm, after which they took away her earrings, watch and phone and she was allowed to leave.
The woman then walked to the nearby railway police post at Habibganj station and called her parents, both of whom are in the police forces. The morning after the incident, her father took her to the police station to register a complaint, where they were redirected to other stations twice.
