A newly married woman who was out on a picnic with her husband in Gurh area of Rewa district was gang-raped by eight people. One of the eight accusede is still still at large.
Police said that the accused overpowered the survivor's husband and thrashed him before taking him away from the spot and took turns to rape the woman. The incident took place on October 21 and a case was filed by the survivor the next day.
So far, Rewa police have arrested seven of the eight accused on Friday.
The accused also shot a video of the incident and threatened the couple that they would make the video viral on internet if they disclosed it to anyone.
Police said the incident took place near a picnic spot Bhairav Baba Sthan under Gurh police station of Rewa district.
Both the survivor and her husband are about 19 years of age and were recently married.
Police said all the accused are also aged between 19 and 21 years. They have been identified as Ramkishan Kori, Deepak Kori, Ravish Gupta, Sushil Kori, Rajendra Kori, Garud Kori, Luvkush Kori, and Rajnish Kori.
"Seven of these accused were arrested on Friday.
One accused, identified as Rajnish Kori, is on the run. We have also recovered some objectionable videos from the possession of the accused," said SP Rewa, Vivek Singh.
Singh said, "All the eight accused were partying near the spot and at the time of the incident, five of them were present on the spot, and three were nearby. They too arrived, and soon all of them executed the crime."
"Investigation suggests that five of them raped the survivor, but as per norms, all eight are booked for rape too," Singh said.
Before committing the act, the accused beat the husband of the survivor and overpowered him and took him far from sight.
The incident sparked protests from Congress leaders and state Cong president, Jitu Patwari, alleged, "There was an investors' meet happening in Rewa, and the incident was kept under wraps by the police and administration for two days. If it's not ‘Jungle Raaj,' what else is this?"
Congress leader and former CM Kamalnath shared on social media, "In Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district, a shocking incident has come to light where a husband was tied to a tree while his wife was gang-raped. According to the report, the newlywed couple went to a nearby area for a picnic when five miscreants assaulted the husband and then committed the crime in front of him. The perpetrators also recorded the rape and tried to silence the victim by threatening to make the video viral. Despite the increasing incidents of rape in Madhya Pradesh, the govt's attention seems to be elsewhere.
It has become difficult for women to step out of their homes. The police administration has failed to maintain law and order. The chief minister, who is also the in-charge of the home department, has seemingly handed over the state to criminals.
Crime and criminals are rampant everywhere. The govt is unable to move beyond events and advertisements. I urge the govt to develop an effective plan in every district to prevent rape incidents through joint efforts of the police and social organisations, and to strengthen the intelligence network to prevent the recurrence of such events."
