Bhopal: 19-yr-old gangraped for 3 hrs; cops call it 'filmy' story, face action

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Police on Friday arrested three of the four men, who gangraped a 19-year-old Indian Administrative Service (IAS) aspirant in Bhopal for nearly three hours on Tuesday night.

"Speaking to media, Bhopal Inspector General of Police (IGP Law and Order) Makrand Deuskar said, "Three accused have been arrested and presented before the court. The fourth accused is absconding and a search for him is on."

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday directed a fast-track trial into the case.

The chief minister also directed strict action against the policemen, who accused the victim of making up a "filmy" story. Police filed the complaint after 11 hours.

The teenager was returning home from coaching class in Maharana Pratap Nagar around 10 pm on Tuesday when she was gangraped. The incident took place near Habibganj Railway station in Bhopal, close to a police post.

A Government Railway Police (GRP) officer said two accused allegedly took the woman under a culvert near the railway tracks. They reportedly tied her up and took turns to rape her. Later, one of them brought two more men, who also raped her.

All the four accused, identified as Golu Bihari, Amar Chhantu, Rajesh, and Ramesh, have been booked under sections 376D (gang rape) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The accused, as per the reports, even took a tea and gutkha break before returning to repeatedly rape the girl.

The girl’s father is with paramilitary and mother is with the state CID. Her parents said police initially denied to file their complaint.

Explaining the ordeal, the mother said that they had first gone to the MP Nagar police station, where SI RN Tekam jotted down the complaint, visited the crime spot but later claimed that it does not fall in his jurisdiction and told them to go to Habibganj police station.

They were able to file a complaint after the victim identified two of the accused outside Habibganj police station they were going to. They managed to grab them after a scuffle and took the duo to the police station.

The family then headed to Habibganj police station, where senior officers directed cops to register a preliminary complaint after they handed over the two accused.

The parents were then directed to go to Government Railway Police (GRP), as the incident was said to have happened in its jurisdiction.

At the GRP station, an officer accused them of cooking up the story. “SHO GRP Mohit Saxena and SI Uikey misbehaved with us and said they wouldn't file any case. SI Uikey alleged that we were making a ‘false filmy complaint’,” the mother told The Times of India.

SHO GRP Mohit Saxena was suspended on Friday for alleged misbehaviour during filing of complaint.

Bhupendra, Habibganj SHO, and Sanjay Singh, Maharana Pratap Nagar SHO, were also suspended on Friday, and Maharana Pratap Nagar CSP was removed from post.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Friday wrote to DGP Madhya Pradesh and called for strict and appropriate action against the culprits.

NCW also asked DGP Madhya Pradesh to take action against respective police officials, who refused to file the complaint and requested to apprise it about details of the case along with action taken, by fax or email immediately.