Bandh in Kosli town in Rewari against gang rape 19-year-old woman

Rewari (Haryana), September 19

Traders in Kosli town of Haryana's Rewari district observed a bandh on Wednesday to protest against the alleged gang rape of a 19-year-old woman.

A protest march was taken out by some social organisations and residents to protest against the incident. They demanded immediate arrest of the two key accused on the run -- an Army man who has been identified as Pankaj and Manish, and exemplary punishment for the culprits.

The 19-year-old woman, a school topper hailing from Rewari who had been felicitated by the government, was abducted at a bus stop in Kanina town in neighbouring Mahendragarh district on September 12 while she was on the way to a coaching class, police said.

She was allegedly drugged and gang-raped at a room housing a tubewell for irrigation.

The protesters also demanded all necessary help and support from the government to the woman.

Shops were closed and markets in the town wore a deserted look.

Earlier, a 'Mahapanchayat' of 25 villages had resolved to observe a bandh in Kosli town in protest against the incident.

The gang rape case has prompted opposition parties to demand Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's resignation on moral grounds, alleging the state had failed to protect its daughters.

The police have so far arrested three accused in the case.

Besides one of the key accused Nishu, the two other men arrested in the case have been identified by the Haryana Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) as Sanjeev, a medical practitioner who attended to the woman first after the crime, and Deendayal, the owner of the property where the woman was allegedly gang-raped. PTI