Four gang-rapes reported in Madhya Pradesh in 24 hours, two minors among victims

Four cases of gang rape, two of them involving minors, were reported from Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen and Bhopal in a period of just 24 hours.

In the first case, a 15-year-old girl was raped at Murpar village in Raisen district on Monday night. Two people have been arrested in this connection.

Gairatganj town inspector Sanjay Pathak said the girl was allegedly lured by the accused – Ravi Shankar Lodhi and Ganga Prasad Lodhi – to a hut in the vicinity of Murpar and raped. The girl spent the night inside the hut in an unconscious state, and returned to tell her parents about her ordeal the next morning.

A case of rape has been registered against Ravi and Ganga under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

The second incident pertained to the rape of a 17-year-old girl by two people while she was alone at her home in Gehlawan village on Tuesday. Devri police station town inspector Devendra Pal Singh said the two accused, identified as Rammu and Billa, took her to a forested area where she was raped after being made to consume alcohol.

Although a complaint was lodged against the two, they are yet to be arrested.

In the third case, a gang of five led by one Imran Khan kidnapped an 18-year-old woman while she was asleep on the terrace of her house in Dhanora on Saturday. They allegedly raped her in an isolated spot before abandoning her outside the village. Hindu outfits have warned district superintendent of police Jagat Singh Rajput that they would launch an agitation unless the accused are arrested immediately.

The fourth case pertained to a woman from Mandla who was allegedly raped by two people at a hotel room in Bhopal on Tuesday. Deputy inspector general Dharmendra Choudhary said two people have been arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by the woman. “Investigations are on, and we are hunting for a third accomplice,” he added.

In her complaint filed at the Govindpura police station, the woman said she had come to the state capital by train on Tuesday morning to meet her cousin, Shailendra Kushwaha, in connection with a job opportunity.

Shailendra told her that he had asked his friend, Idris Khan, to arrange for her stay in a hotel room near the Habibganj ISBT. Khan came to the railway station and took her to a hotel, where they were joined by two others – identified as Rahul Thakur (22) and Monu Sharma (28). They had dinner together, following which Khan left.

According to the complaint, it was then that Thakur and Sharma allegedly raped her in the hotel room. Later, they took her towards Shahpura, where their vehicle was spotted by a night patrol. When they were unable to give satisfactory answers, police took the two to the Govindpura station, where the woman revealed that she had been raped.

Police have registered a case against the two, and launched a search for Khan.