Close X
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
ADVT 
India

Minor's Gang Rape: Soldier Sent To Custody, Army Assures Cooperation

Darpan News Desk IANS, 29 Dec, 2015 12:59 PM
    A West Bengal court on Tuesday sent to seven days police custody a soldier arrested for the gang rape of a teenaged girl inside a train, while the army assured assistance to police in nabbing two of its personnel alleged to have committed the crime.
     
    The 14-year-old girl, hailing from Dum Dum in Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, was allegedly raped by two army men after forcing her to drink alcohol inside a reserved military compartment of the Howrah-Amritsar Express.
     
    The girl, who boarded the train from Howrah on her way to Ludhiana, was rescued in a joint effort by Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel at Madhupur station in Jharkhand on Monday.
     
    While two of the alleged culprits managed to escape, the third personnel, accused to have forced the girl to drink, was arrested by the GRP and handed over to the Howrah GRP which has now taken over the investigation.
     
    Charged with several offences including under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the arrested accused -- identified as Manjrish Tripathi -- was presented before a court in Howrah which sent him to police custody for seven days.
     
    The girl, who identified the accused in a video footage, also deposed before the magistrate.
     
    "We had sought seven days custody of the accused which the court granted us. We are studying the video footage of the train to ascertain the identity and locate the two absconding accused. We are confident of apprehending them soon," said a GRP officer.
     
    "The victim also recorded her statement before the magistrate and we are interrogating the accused to gather more information about the two absconding accused," the officer added.
     
    A medical examination conducted on the girl confirmed rape.
     
    The girl was rescued after the GRP received a complaint from her father that she fled home and boarded the train.
     
    According to the family, the girl had left her house unannounced to meet a man in Ludhiana whom she had befriended on a social networking site.
     
    The army, which has initiated a probe in the matter, assured it would assist police in locating the accused soldiers.
     
    "We have assured full cooperation to the Howrah GRP which is now investigating the case. We have also initiated a probe into the matter. We are assisting the investigators in identifying and tracking the two accused," said an army source.
     
    Meanwhile, the All India Democratic Students' Organisation (AIDSO), a students' organisation affiliated to the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), staged a demonstration in the city demanding capital punishment for the alleged rapists.
     
    Staging the demonstration outside Raj Bhavan here, some of AIDSO activists were arrested after they clashed with police.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Modi's Silence Is Deliberate: Shashi Tharoor

    Tharoor was speaking at the curtain raiser of the ninth edition of the Jaipur Lit fest held at the Taj Mahal hotel here on Thursday night.

    Modi's Silence Is Deliberate: Shashi Tharoor

    Ruckus In Rajya Sabha Over V.K. Singh, Bhagwat's Remarks

    Ruckus In Rajya Sabha Over V.K. Singh, Bhagwat's Remarks
    Soon after the house met at noon after two brief adjournments, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said V.K. Singh should not only be removed from the ministry, but also from parliament.

    Ruckus In Rajya Sabha Over V.K. Singh, Bhagwat's Remarks

    Beef Rumours Trigger Violence In Haryana, Probe Ordered

    Beef Rumours Trigger Violence In Haryana, Probe Ordered
    "It was a clash between pro-cow volunteers and police. It was not any communal clash," R.S. Sangwan, deputy director of public relations (National Capital Region), Haryana, told IANS.

    Beef Rumours Trigger Violence In Haryana, Probe Ordered

    269 Dead, Millions Suffer, Chennai Under Water

    269 Dead, Millions Suffer, Chennai Under Water
    Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the unprecedented crisis a national disaster.

    269 Dead, Millions Suffer, Chennai Under Water

    More Than 62 Lakh Toilets Built Under Swachh Bharat Mission

    More Than 62 Lakh Toilets Built Under Swachh Bharat Mission
    The government has built 62.38 lakh toilets in 2015-16 as part of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), parliament was informed on Wednesday.

    More Than 62 Lakh Toilets Built Under Swachh Bharat Mission

    November Home Sales In Vancouver Up 40 Per Cent From Year Ago, Board Says

    November Home Sales In Vancouver Up 40 Per Cent From Year Ago, Board Says
    The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says home sales on the Multiple Listing Service in Metro Vancouver totalled 3,524 last month.

    November Home Sales In Vancouver Up 40 Per Cent From Year Ago, Board Says