Chandigarh: On the backfoot after a 20-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped by the same accused who had gang-raped her three years back, the Haryana Police on Tuesday said that three of the five accused have been arrested.
Those arrested are Amit, Jagmohan and Sandeep, Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) K.P Singh told media here on Tuesday.
"The Haryana Police has arrested three of the five accused involved in the incident of rape of a girl in Rohtak recently who was found lying near Sukhpura Chowk in intoxicated condition," Singh said, adding the remaining two accused would soon be arrested.
"On the statement of the victim, a case of gang-rape was registered against five youth, namely Amit, Jagmohan, Sandeep, Mausam and Akash," the DGP said.
Denying that police had acted slowly in the case, he said: "The police always acted with utmost seriousness in such cases and I assure that accused in this case would be strictly dealt with as per the law."
Noting the girl was found lying near Sukhpura chowk, Rohtak, on July 13 and a police team reached the spot and got her admitted to a hospital, he said, on her statement, a case of kidnapping and gang rape was registered at the Women Police Station on July 14.
"The body fluid of the victim has been sent to FSL (forensic sciences laboratory) for examination. However, the doctors have given report that she might have been raped," the DGP said.
He said that a case of kidnapping of the same girl was also got registered by the family of the victim at the police station in Bhiwani city in October 2013 against some unknown persons.
"But later on the girl made statement under section 164 of Cr.P.C. before the Judicial Magistrate saying that she went to Chandigarh on her own and nobody kidnapped her as such. But again, after few days, the girl's family insisted that the girl wanted to make another statement in the court regarding the kidnapping," the DGP pointed out.
"In her second statement u/s 164 Cr PC before the magistrate, she alleged that she was given lift by Bittu alias Amit and Sushma who took her to an abandoned place where Amit called four of his friends and she was gang-raped by all five," he said, adding police summoned Amit and Jagmohan whereas sufficient evidence was not available against the others.
"During trial, family of the girl put an application under section 319 to summon and try the remaining three accused which was rejected by the District and Sessions Court, Bhiwani. Family has filed a petition against this order in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
"Meanwhile, both the accused, namely Amit and Jagmohan, got bail from the court two and a half months back," the DGP said while giving details of both gang-rape incidents.
He said that the latest allegation of was being investigated by a special team of the Haryana Police.
The victim, a college student, who was allegedly gang-raped three years ago by five men in Bhiwani district, has alleged that she was gang-raped again by the same men in Rohtak town on July 13.
Her brother alleged she was abducted from outside her college in Rohtak town, 75 km from New Delhi, on July 13 by the accused after being dragged into a car, driven to an isolated spot and gang-raped again.
The 20-year-old victim has been admitted to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak following the second incident.
Her brother alleged that the accused also tried to kill his sister. The accused dumped the victim near Sukhpura Chowk power house.
He claimed the accused "had been putting pressure on us to withdraw the rape case and settle the matter".
When we refused to accept their offer of Rs 50 lakh, they threatened my father and other family members. They abducted my sister from outside her college on July 13 and gang-raped her again to teach her a lesson for not withdrawing the case," he said.
The family claims that it had relocated from Bhiwani to Rohtak after the first gang-rape incident.