Three booked for raping dalit woman

Gurdeep Singh Mann

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 19

The local police have booked three persons, including two government employees deployed at Water Works in Maur Mandi, for raping a dalit woman of Puhla village. The victim, an employee of a private firm, was taken to a room in the Water Works of Maur Mandi where she was kept all night.

The accused were identified as Gurdeep Singh of Tungwali village, Tarsem Singh of Maur Kalan and Kuldeep Singh of Rajgarh Kubbe village. While Gurdeep is a bachelor, Tarsem and Kuldeep are married and have one child each. Gurdeep is a former employee of the Wholesale Store while Kuldeep and Tarsem works at the Water Works and are government employees.

“The victim was forced to sit on a mobike after she alighted a bus at Puhla village on Wednesday evening. She returned to her house after day’s work in the store,” said investigating officer (IO) Gurmeet Singh. The victim, he added, was forced to sit in the middle while Gurdeep drove the bike and Tarsem sat behind the victim.

The IO said the woman—mother of two children of 9 and 12 years—was taken to Maur Mandi, around 35 kilometers from Puhla village. She belongs to a poor dalit family of Puhla village and her husband is a daily wager.

The IO, however, refused to respond when asked how the woman escaped other commuters’ sight and remain sandwiched between the two men on the motorbike up to Maur Mandi. The third accused, Kuldeep Singh trailed behind the woman on another motorbike.

“She vehemently resisted the move of the men but was overpowered by her the accused. She was even forced to consume liquor at a room of the Water Works in Maur Mandi,” the IO said. He stated that she was kept in the room overnight and was raped by all the three, one by one. She was given Rs 40 the next morning and was told to leave in a bus.

“The woman was threatened with dire consequences if she would ever utter a single word about the rape or share information with her family members or the police,” the IO said. After settling down next day, she, however, with the help of another woman, narrated her harrowing tale to the police and a case was registered at the Nathana police station.

Medical examination of the victim corroborated her allegations after which the case was registered under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 342 (wrongful confinement), 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (criminal act done by several persons). No arrests were made so far.