Tribal girl raped in Uttarakhand

Kotdwar: A tribal girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped in Laldhang range of Lansdowne forest division in Uttarakhand`s Pauri district, a senior administration official said on Monday.

The teenaged girl, who belongs to the forest dwelling Gujjar tribe and lives near Sigaddisrote close to Kotdwar, was abducted at gunpoint by a group of miscreants on January 2 and subsequently raped by one of them, SDM Anil Garbyal told reporters here. The victim was recovered from Udhamsingh Nagar district a week later on January 8 and on the basis of a complaint lodged later by her mother, four of the accused were arrested yesterday from Syatpari of the forest range following a raid on a Gujjar settlement, he said. The four arrested, identified as Shamsher, Vazir, Safadil and Zahur have been sent to Pauri jail while an equal number of the accused are still at large, he said. The medical examination of the girl confirmed rape and one of the accused named Shamsher has confessed to having sexually assaulted the girl, Garbyal said. PTI