A Dalit minor was allegedly gang-raped and her 17-year-old friend assaulted by three men in Jodhpur district in Rajasthan around 4 am on Sunday. The accused who were arrested later in the day, were linked with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
Based on the minor girl’s complaint, a first information report (FIR) was registered under 376(g) (gang rape) of the Indian Penal Code and other sections of the Protection of Children Under Sexual Offences Act (Pocso) and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The accused are identified as Samandar Singh (21), Bhattam Singh (22), and Dharmpal Singh (21).
The 17-year-old girl from Ajmer had run away from home with a minor boy on Saturday, according to the police. The two reached Jodhpur by bus on Saturday night and were looking for a place to stay near the bus stand. “The minors could not find a place to stay… they were walking on the road when three men approached them near Pawata Circle and offered to help them,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Amrita Duhan.
Duhan said that the accused offered the two teens food and suggested that they should continue their journey ahead via train, police said. According to the police, the accused led the two minors towards the railway line near the Pawata circle, and they continued walking throughout the night. Around 4 am, the group entered a university campus by breaching a broken wall. At this point, the two accused forcefully restrained the minor boy, subjecting him to physical assault and silencing him. Subsequently, they targeted the girl, subjecting her to a brutal gang rape.
The National Students Union of India (NSUI), the Congress’s student wing, accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of being linked with the accused. The ABVP, however, rejected the allegations.
NSUI activists held protests at the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur and outside the old campus of JNV University in Jodhpur.
“The incident is highly shameful and condemnable. Those involved in the crime should be given the death penalty,” said NSUI leader Ramesh Bhati in Jaipur, PTI reported.
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