Rewari gang rape: 2 more arrests have given us valuable information, says Haryana police chief

The police on Sunday arrested the owner of the area where the incident happened and the doctor who first attended to the victim.

Image Courtesy: ANI

The police on Sunday arrested two people in connection with the gangrape of a 19-year-old woman in Rewari. Owner of the area where the incident happened and the doctor who first attended to the victim were arrested by the police, confirmed DGP B S Sandhu.

Sandhu said that the people arrested - Deen Dayal (owner of the land) and Dr. Sanjeev (medical practitioner) - have provided the police with a valuable information and the asserted that main accused will be arrested soon. 

"They have given a lot of information. We are working on that and the main accused will be arrested very soon," Sandhu said. 

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar reviewed with Sandhu the progress in the investigation. Sandhu briefed CM Khattar on the investigation done and action taken by the police. 

Rewari SP Rajesh Duggal has been transferred due to inaction by the local police and will be replaced by the SP of chief minister's security, Rahul Sharma.

The chief minister directed Sandhu to ensure the arrest of all the accused at the earliest, the sources said.

The family of the victim wanted to shift their daughter from the hospital after her condition was not well on Sunday. The Additional Director General (ADG) of police Shrikant Jadhav said he spoke to the Cheif Medical Officer (CMO) about the condition of the victim. 

The CMO asserted that the condition is now stable and the family wants to continue the treatment in the same hospital, Jadhav confirmed.

The victim's family had alleged that police had failed to take prompt action on their complaint and delayed action by citing jurisdiction issue between police units of Rewari and Mahendergarh districts. 

The woman hailing from Rewari was abducted at a bus stop in Kanina town in neighbouring Mahendragarh district on Wednesday while she was on the way to a coaching class, police said.

She was then allegedly drugged and gang-raped at a secluded spot.

The woman was recovered from a room housing a tubewell for irrigation.

The owner of the property, Deendayal, who was among the two people arrested, told police that the three key accused had taken keys to the room from him on the day of the incident.

The police claimed Deendayal knew about the crime, but did not report it.

"The accused should be hanged," the woman's mother told reporters in her village in Rewari.

She also said that the family has decided to return a cheque of Rs 2 lakh handed over to them on Saturday by district administration officials under the Haryana Victim Compensation Scheme, 2013.

"We do not want this cheque. Is this the price which is being put for honour of my daughter. All we want is justice. We used to hear about long arm of the law, but what is police doing. The accused are yet to be arrested," she said.

Police have provided security to the victim's family.

The Haryana Police had set up a special investigation team headed by Mewat SP Naazneen Bhasin, and announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the accused.

Police had on Saturday released photographs and names of the accused, who have been identified as Army jawan Pankaj, Manish and Nishu.

The accused live in the same village in Rewari and they knew the woman and her family, police said.

Lt Gen Cherish Mathson, who heads the South Western Command of the Army, had said in Jaipur that they would help the police in the probe.

The victim's father has said 8 or 10 men may have raped her but she could identify only three of them.

The case evoked sharp reaction from opposition parties who have demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on moral grounds, saying the state had failed to protect its daughters.

(With Agency inputs)