Two minor girls gang-raped in Ludhiana

Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, February 23

It seems there is no let-up in crime against women in the city. Two minor girls were gang-raped, and another minor and a woman were raped here in the past few days.

Two persons, identified as Ravinder Singh, a resident of Basant Nagar, and his friend Sagar, a resident of Gopal Nagar, were arrested and charged with section 376-D/506 of the IPC and sections 3/4/5 POCSO Act on a complaint by the 15-year-old gang-rape victim. She said Ravinder, her brother-in-law, along with his friend Sagar, raped her. The girl said her brother-in-law took her to his house saying that his son was unwell.

“After some time, he came back in a drunken condition and took me along to drop me back at my place. His friend Sagar was also accompanying us. The duo took me to a vacant place in Basant Nagar and raped me. Both culprits threatened to kill me if I reported the matter to anybody,” said the victim who called her mother over the phone later and reached her house.

Class IX student raped

In another sexual assault, a 13-year-girl studying in class IX was allegedly raped in New Sunder Nagar Colony by a neighbour, Shambhu, on the night of Saturday. The girl told her father that the suspect had sneaked into her room in the night and sexually assaulted her. The victim said she was threatened with dire consequences by the rapist. The police have registered a case under sections 376/506 of the IPC and section 4 of the POCSO Act.

17-year-old gang-raped

A 17-year-old girl of Dhandari Khurd has allegedly been gang-raped by her boyfriend and two others. The police have registered a case under section 376 of the IPC and section 4 of the POCSO Act against Harman and Deep, both residents of Dhandari Khurd; Sooraj, a resident of Prem Nagar, and a woman of Dhandari Khurd in this regard. The girl told the police that on being persuaded by her neighbour, she became friends with Harman, who raped her twice on February 14 and 16. On the evening of February 16, Sooraj and Harman took her to Sooraj’s house and all three raped her one after the other.

Meanwhile, the police claimed to have arrested Sooraj, a migrant from Bihar and now residing at Prem Nagar in Dhandari Khurd, and Deep of Dashmesh Market in Dhandari Khurd for the rape of the 17-year-old girl of the same locality. Harman and his woman accomplice are still at large, the police said.

Maid raped after being  fed ‘bhang pakoras’

A 22-year-old unmarried woman, a resident of Circuit House area who works as maid at the PAU complex, was allegedly raped by Lahoria on Friday. In her statement, the woman said Lahoria took her along on his two-wheeler by force to an undisclosed place, fed her pakoras laced with ‘bhang’ and raped her. She said the suspect later dropped her near the house where she worked as a domestic help. The police have registered a case under sections 376/506 of the IPC.

Girl, woman go missing

In separate incidents, a 12-year-old girl and a 20-year-old woman were reported missing from Dhandari Khurd and Sherpur Kalan localities respectively. Suresh Kumar lodged a report with police that his daughter, who works at a factory in Focal Point, had gone to work on February 20 but did not come back home. He suspected that their neighbour’s son Sandeep Kumar might have abducted the girl.

Shobha (20) was reported missing by her father Mintu Lal Gupta, a resident of Sherpur Kalan. The complainant said his daughter had gone to school on February 18 and was missing since then. He suspected that the woman might have been abducted by somebody.

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