BURDWAN: A woman was allegedly gangraped when she resisted dacoits looting passengers of a local train in West Bengal's Burdwan district.
The dacoits, who were posing as passengers, held the guard of the Ahmedpur-Katwa narrow gauge passenger hostage yesterday and forced the driver to stop the train near Pachundi and started looting the people on board near Panchundi in Katwa area, police said.
Director General of Police (Railways) Dilip Mitra who visited the spot today along with SDPO, Katwa, Dhrubajyoti Roy said that the woman complained to the police that she was dragged out of the train and raped by some men near the rail tracks.
"The woman has been identified. I have spoken to her.
An FIR was lodged immmediately after the incident," Mitra said.
Roy said he went to the residence of the woman at Ambalpur nearby Pachundi under Ketugram Police station yesterday following the incident and after listening to her took her to the Government Railway Police at Katwa where she lodged the complaint of rape.
The SDPO said that three persons were detained following the complaint.
Mitra said the woman was sent for a medical examination and the report was awaited.
CPI(M) workers demonstrated at the Katwa railway station protesting against the incident.
"Clear proceedings will be initiated in the rape case. We always take cognizance when we receive such complaints. There is no need for us to see where it has taken place, whether in the district or elsewhere," Mitra said.
He said that he had also inquired from the victim whether the GRP had behaved properly with her when she went to lodge the complaint and she had replied in the affirmative.
The passengers had lodged a complaint about the dacoity with the GRP after the train reached Katwa at about 8:00 pm last night.
The incident is the third instance of rape reported in the state recently.
The first was the rape case of an Anglo-Indian woman returning from a night club on Park Street on February five.
Two police officers had also made objectionable comments when she went to lodge the complaint four days later at the Park Street police station.
On February 17, a ragpicker was allegedly raped by a truck driver and his helper at Baranagar in North 24 Parganas district.