Four Indian forces’ personnel gang-rape young woman in Uttar Pradesh
Lucknow: In yet another disturbing incident raising serious questions about the conduct of Indian forces, four personnel, including two Uttar Pradesh Police and two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, gang-raped a 24-year-old woman at a farmhouse in Amroha district of BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh state.
The woman approached the police after the incident, following which Superintendent of Police (SP) Lakhan Singh Yadav said that her statement had been recorded.
According to her complaint, the sequence of events began on September 20 when a female friend asked her to meet CRPF Sub-Inspector Mohit and accompany him to religious places in Amroha. The following day, she met Mohit in Sonepat, Haryana, and travelled with him to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. During the journey, CRPF Head Constable Lalaram Yadav joined them, the complaint stated. On the evening of September 22, Mohit and Yadav took the woman by car to Hasanpur and picked up Uttar Pradesh Police Sub-Inspector Sanjay Tomar on the way. The three then took her to a farmhouse on the Atrasi-Hasanpur road, where they rented two rooms.
The complaint said that Uttar Pradesh Police Head Constable Pramod arranged food and liquor for the group. Later that evening, Mohit, Yadav and Tomar raped the woman. Pramod subsequently entered the room and attempted to sexually assault her, but she resisted, pushed him away and locked the door, the complaint said. She then searched online for the police helpline number.
The farmhouse where the incident took place reportedly belongs to an independent MLA from Uttarakhand. Police have questioned the property’s manager as part of the ongoing investigation.
The accused comprise a CRPF sub-inspector and a head constable, along with a Uttar Pradesh Police sub-inspector and head constable, all reportedly posted in or associated with Hasanpur Police Station in Amroha district.
“Police received information that a woman was being forced into sexual activity. A police team immediately reached the spot, secured the woman and recorded her statement,” SP Yadav said.
Police said all four accused were arrested shortly afterwards and were being questioned as the investigation continued.
Reacting to the incident, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said in a social media post that when governance is based on crime, the police force also becomes corrupt. He said that the incident is a “stain” on the police force that no amount of patronage can erase, demanding “historic action” in the matter.
