Punjab girl gang-raped in running train in Jharkhand, hospitalised after she took poison; SIT formed to probe
PATNA: A 19-year-old girl from Punjab’s Fazilka was gangraped by two men in a running train between Muri and Ranchi in Jharkhand, police said on Saturday after recording her statements at a hospital.
The girl was travelling alone in the Anand Vihar (New Delhi)-Ranchi Swarna Jayanti Express on February 6 night when the incident happened, she told police. She was deeply traumatised by the incident and did not tell about it to anyone at a convent where she has been living. Two days later, she consumed an insecticide in a bid to commit suicide and was hospitalised.
“She said she was travelling in S-6 coach of the train and that two men raped her between Muri and Ranchi. The two men pulled the train and got down two stations before the train reached Ranchi at about 12 midnight,” said a Government Railway Police (GRP) official familiar with the case. She said she was alone in the coach before the incident happened, he added.
Her friends at the convent at Ranchi’s Kadru area learned about the incident only after she tried to commit suicide and lodged an FIR at Chutia police station in Ranchi on February 15. The case was handed over to GRP, which is probing it.
“A medical test on the girl has been conducted and the clothes she was wearing at the time of the incident have been sent for a forensic test. We have formed a special investigation team (SIT) to trace the culprits and nab them,” said Ranchi superintendent of police (railway) Sangeeta Tiwari. The SIT is led by a DSP and has four inspector-level officials in it.
The girl has been in Ranchi for about four months. She learns stitching and sewing and also takes English language lessons at the convent, said sources. She had left for her home in Fazilka on vacation on January 5 and was returning when the tragic incident happened.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has ordered police to arrest the rapists as soon as possible and put the trial of the case in a fast-track court. “I am deeply saddened to learn of the brutal incident with a daughter. The government will provide her all possible medical help. The culprits will not be spared,” Das tweeted.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the case.