RANCHI: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to the Jharkhand police chief to expedite the investigation into the alleged gang-rape of a Spanish biker in Dumka on Friday night.
The Special Investigation Team, formed by the Dumka Superintendent of Police, arrested three suspects and sent them to jail on Sunday.
“A letter has been sent to DGP from NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma to expedite the investigation into this matter and invoke charges of rape under Section 376D of IPC,” NCW posted on X. The NCW chairperson also spoke to the victim and has extended all required assistance, it said.
The NCW has sent a representative to inquire into the case and meet the victim and police officers in Jharkhand.
The Dumka SP, however, said besides the three accused, 4 other suspects will also be nabbed soon. “We have identified them,” he said.
“The victim’s statement under Section 164 of IPC was registered before the magistrate on Sunday while the three accused persons, arrested by the SIT, were sent to jail. Two SITs were formed, one for proper investigation of the case while the other for arresting the suspects,” said Dumka SP Pitamber Singh Kherwar.
The SP said different teams of the Forensic Science Laboratory and CID were called in from Ranchi for scientific investigation of the case.
“We will also ensure a speedy trial is conducted so that justice is done with the Spanish woman and her husband,” said the SP. The Spanish woman was allegedly gang-raped in Dumka on Friday night. She was on a bike tour of India with her husband and was going towards Nepal through India from Bangladesh.
The victim told the police that the incident took place while they were taking rest in a makeshift tent around 11 pm on Friday. “A group of seven people beat up her husband, robbed them and raped her,” a police officer was quoted as saying.
The victim and her husband also posted their statement on social media explaining the horrific incident, saying that, “something happened to us that we would not wish to happen to anyone else.”
An FIR has been lodged at the Hansdiha police station in Dumka. Dumka’s Deputy Commissioner A Dodde said, “The embassy and chief secretary have been informed. The couple are under protection here.”
Meanwhile, NCW chief Rekha Sharma on Sunday responded to a US-based journalist who, in a post, said he witnessed the highest level of “sexual aggression” in India. She asked the journalist whether he reported such incidents to police. “If not, then you are totally an irresponsible person,” she said. “Writing only on social media and defaming whole country is not a good choice.”
Journalist David Josef Volodzko said the level of sexual aggression he witnessed while living in India for several years was unlike anywhere else he had ever been after the Dumka incident.
David said that he never met a female traveler who had not been groped or assaulted or worse, even if they had only been in the country for mere days. He clarified that he loved the country, but advised his female friends to not travel alone.
What went down
A Spanish woman was allegedly gang-raped in Dumka on Friday night
She was on a bike tour of India with her husband and was going towards Nepal
The incident took place while they were taking rest in a makeshift tent
NCW wrote to Jharkhand police chief to expedite the investigation
