A 19-year-old college student who was felicitated by the President after she topped the CBSE board exam was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped by a group of men in Haryana till she fell unconscious and later dumped her at a bus stand. The second-year student was on her way to a coaching class near her village in Mahendragarh district when three young men, who came in a car, allegedly kidnapped her and dragged her to a field, where they raped her. A few other men who were waiting in the field also took turns to rape her, the police said. The girl says all the men are from her village.
Senior police officer AS Chawla said a medical examination of the student has been conducted. "We are looking to arrest the three accused," the police officer said. Her parents alleged that the police initially refused to take their complaint and file a First Information Report. They said they had been running from one police station to another, hoping to file a complaint, after the accused threatened them.
"My daughter was rewarded by Modiji after she topped the CBSE board exams. Modiji says 'beti padho, beti bacho', but how? I want justice for my daughter. Police have taken no action yet," the girl's mother said. A police officer, however, claimed a "zero FIR" was filed against the accused based on the woman's complaint. A zero FIR is filed in a police station which is not in charge of the area where the crime took place and can be transferred to the relevant police station.
The police said the zero FIR was converted into a regular FIR after it was successfully transferred to the police station under whose area the crime took place. Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar said the "guilty will be punished and law will take its own course," he said.
