Days after outrage, Haryana cops arrest 8 for Rohtak rape

Sunit Dhawan

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Tribune News Service

Rohtak, February 9

The police claim to have cracked the gangrape-cum-murder case of a mentally challenged Nepalese woman with the arrest of eight persons. The ninth suspect allegedly committed suicide near Bahadurgarh.

The arrests were announced hours after the cash reward on information about perpetrators of the crime was raised from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

Addressing a news conference at the local IGP office this afternoon, Haryana DGP YP Singhal said the arrested persons included Rajesh alias Ghuchru, son of Jagdish; Sunil alias Shilla, son of Ramesh; Sarvar alias Billu, son of Om Prakash; Manbir, son of Dharambir; Sunil alias Maddha, son of Surajbhan; Pawan, son of Karmu; Parmod alias Padam, son of Ranbir; and Santosh, son of Vikram.

SIT in charge Amit Bhatia said the Delhi police told them that the ninth suspect, Sombir, was admitted to a Delhi hospital after he allegedly consumed poison, but he later died. Of the nine suspects, eight are residents of Gaddi Kheri village in Rohtak district, while Santosh hails from Nepal. The DGP maintained that the arrestedpersons had confessed to their involvement in the crime.

DSP Amit Bhatia, in charge of the SIT investigating the matter, said the arrested persons would be produced before a local court tomorrow.

DGP Singhal reached Rohtak this morning and visited the scene of the crime at Bahu Akbarpur village in the district. He also announced that the cash reward for information on the perpetrators of the crime had been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

Later, addressing the press conference, the DGP said it was a case of gang-rape involving the accused persons. He said the possibility of involvement of other persons could not be ruled out. He, however, asserted that the woman had not been kidnapped and had left her home on her own. “The case has been cracked with traditional human intelligence as well as cyber and scientific support,” he said, adding that further details would be known soon.

Amar, the brother of the deceased, said that he had come to know about the arrests through the media. On being asked whether he was satisfied with the police action, he replied in the affirmative. He, however, maintained that his sister could have been saved if the police had acted promptly on being informed that she had gone missing.

Haryana Agriculture Minister OP Dhankhar announced a financial aid of Rs 5 lakh to the vitctim’s family.

A 28-year-old mentally challenged woman from Nepal, who was staying with her sister and brother-in-law at Chinyot Colony here, went missing from their house on February 1. Her body was found lying in a nearby village on February 4.

The post-mortem revealed that she was brutally raped and physically tortured before her death. Dr SK Dhattarwal, head of the Forensic Medicine Department at the local PGIMS where the autopsy was conducted, said the woman had been tortured. She suffered multiple injuries on the head, chest, thighs and private parts. A condom and two big, pointed stones were found from inside her body. Her genitals were badly mutilated. The post-mortem revealed that she was also subjected to unnatural sex.  The incident hogged media headlines across the country and was condemned by residents and socio-political organisations.