Dalit gangrape case: Police quiz two suspects; make no arrest

Four days after five youths were booked for gangraping a 21-year-old Dalit girl here, the Rohtak Police quizzed two suspects on Monday.

Dalit bodies staging a protest march to gherao Rohtak MLA Manish Grover.(Manoj Dhaka/HT Photo)

Based on the victim’s complaint, the police had registered a case against Amit, Jagmohan, Mausam, Sandeep and Akash. Amit and Jagmohan joined the investigation, while families of Mausam and Sandeep approached the police with evidence of them not being in the town.

The duo was not arrested as the police said the two provided evidence of them not being in the town on the date of the incident.

“We have verified the suspects’ mobile locations and it shows that they were not in Rohtak,” said Rakesh Arya, superintendent of police (SP), adding, “The families have submitted a CCTV footage, which shows one in Bhiwani, one in Ambala and one in a bank in Rohtak when the incident happened.”

“The victim has not recorded her statement in front of the magistrate this time. When the victim was raped in 2013, she had recorded two contradictory statements and submitted them to the magistrate,” Arya said.

The victim was gangraped by the same suspects three years ago in Bhiwani.

The mother and brothers of the victim at PGIMS. (Manoj Dhaka/HT Photo)

She has alleged that she was kidnapped and raped by the same men when she was returning home from college in Rohtak on Wednesday. Based on her complaint, the police had registered the FIR.

In the 2013 incident, the police had filed a charge sheet against two accused — Amit and Jagmohan —, who were arrested and later released on bail.

The victim’s brother had said they had filed the case in the court for the arrest of the remaining three and re-arrest of two accused. He had said the accused were constantly threatening them for life and had even offered `50lakh for withdrawing the case.

The date of the hearing in the high court is on Tuesday.

“This is all a planned activity. They planned it really well. First they raped my daughter and now they are coming up with fake evidence,” the victim’s mother said, adding, “Most of the time she in unconscious, but whenever she gains conscious, she cries and tells me that they were the same men who had raped her three years ago.” “They (accused) are all rich people and capable of changing the course of the investigation,” the mother added.

“The police are verifying the evidence submitted by the suspects’ families. We are considering both sides of the stories and are probing into the case. We are hopeful of getting a clear picture in two-three days,” said Pushpa Khatri, Rohtak DSP, who is heading the case.

“The suspects are in their 20s and are unemployed,” she added.

Meanwhile, Mahila Congress president, Shobha Oza, staged a protest on Monday at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, where the victim has been admitted.

Oza has demanded the police to include SC/ST Act in the FIR and fast track the investigations. “If the accused are not arrested within two days, we will gherao Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Chandigarh,” she said.

Read victim’s account here.