PATNA: Police on Thursday arrested five of the eight men who allegedly gang-raped a 19-year-old tribal girl while holding her friend at knife point in Jharkhand. The five men, aged between 18 and 25, perpetrated the crime near the Ring Road at Dighi village on Wednesday evening when the girl was returning home on her friend’s bike, police said.
Dumka district SP Mayur Patel said, “About 15 men were involved in the act while eight of them are said to have indulged in the gruesome act. Important leads have been found during the interrogation of the five arrested. The rest are likely to be arrested by tomorrow evening.”
The condition of the girl, who was admitted at Dumka Sadar Hospital at 11.30 pm on Wednesday, was improving, Patel added. Police plan to obtain her statement soon after she is in a condition to speak.
According to the woman’s friend, around six men stopped his bike when he was returning with her. They snatched his mobile phone and wallet and called around 10 of their friends who reached the spot in about five minutes.
The victim’s friend said, “About four men held me tight, with one of them putting a knife to my neck, while the others took her to the other side of the road. They raped her one after the other. Then they took her to a nearby pond and gave her a bath in order to erase physical evidence. They finally brought her to me in an entirely nude condition.”
He gave her his jeans trousers and vest to put on and they somehow managed to reach Mufassil police station, where he lodged a complaint about the ghastly act. Police took the girl to Sadar Hospital for treatment. “She is badly hurt. She cannot speak and cannot walk. She wants the criminals to get the severest of punishment,” said the friend.
Dumka women’s police station SHO Poonam Toppo said the victim’s condition was stable and that her statement would help police in the probe. A week ago, a minor girl was gang-raped and thrown into a drain in Jharkhand. Last month, a teenage tribal girl was stripped and beaten up in her college.