New Delhi: Even as national outrage over the Hathras case continues, the police in Assam have arrested a person on the charge of raping two minor girls belonging to neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh.
As per news reports, the incident took place on October 1 when the minors, aged 15 and 12, took a lift from a tempo driver – the accused.
“The girls from Arunachal Pradesh were working as domestic workers in Naharlagun in the same state. On Thursday morning (October 1), they escaped from their employer’s home and reached Banderdewa in Lakhimpur on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border where they met the accused,” a Hindustan Times report said, quoting Longnit Terong, the superintendent of police at Lakhimpur.
Terong said, “The accused kept taking them around the whole day. In the evening, he allegedly raped the elder (older) girl who later managed to escape. The accused was caught by local villagers while he was raping the other girl.”
The villager handed over the accused to the police, who arrested him for sexual assault to minors under the Indian Penal Code and POSCO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.
The minors reportedly have been sent to a childcare home after their medical examination while an effort is being made to contact their families.
The news report said the result of the medical report is awaited.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Police had also arrested two men on September 30 on the charge of the gangrape of a 22-year-old woman from Assam.
Also read: UP Police Officers Must Be Investigated for Attempting to Shield Hathras Accused
As per a report in the Tribune, the men arrested by Tirupur District Police, and identified as Rajeev, Anbu and Kavin, were among six accused of the crime.
The report said, the victim, staying in Sarsavanapatti area of Tirupur said in her complaint that she had sought a job from Rajesh Kumar, a person whom she knew while working at a mill in Tirupur, as she was living alone after being deserted by her husband. On asked to come over to his house, she arrived at Kumar’s residence on September 28. He later asked his brother Rajeev (Raju) to give her a lift till the bus stop.
Police said Rajeev, however, took her on his motorbike to a deserted area about 40 kms away – at Udayanur near Palladam – and called five of his friends. As per her complaint, the six then sexually assaulted her and fled the scene with her money and the mobile phone.
The Palladam All Women Police registered a case based on her complaint on September 29 and carried out the arrests. While the three accused have been remanded to judicial custody, Superintendent of Police Disha Mittal told The Hindu that two special teams have been formed to nab the remaining three accused.