Under fire over handling of the Rohtak rape-cum-murder case of a mentally challenged woman from Nepal, Haryana Police on Monday claim to have arrested eight men who have allegedly confessed to gang-raping and killing her. Addressing a news conference, Haryana Director General of Police, Yashpal Singhal said the police has arrested eight accused out of nine involved in this brutal rape and murder case.
He said that all the accused have confessed to their crime. The accused murdered her to destroy all the evidences. “Eight youths have been arrested from Gaddikhera village, some 9 km from Rohtak. The name of the Nepali person involved in the case is Santosh and the other arrested accused are Rajesh alias Ghuchadu, Sunil alias Sheela, Sarvar alias Billu, Manbir, Sunil alias Madha, Pawan, Parmod alias Padam. The police is conducting search for arresting the ninth accused Sheelkaraam, added the DGP.
He informed that the arrested accused are in their twenties and appear to be criminals.The DGP also claimed that the girl was not kidnapped but had left home on her own. On the issue of alleged police apathy into the case, the DGP said that they swung into action the moment the complaint was lodged and a DSP rank officer is himself working on it. “If, however, any lapse on the part of police officials is found, action will be taken as per law against them,” said he.
“Haryana Chief Minister is reviewing this case and is also worried it,” he added. In a grim reminder of the December 16 gang-rape in Delhi, a 28-year-old mentally-challenged woman from Nepal was brutally raped and murdered and her body was dumped in a field at a village on the Rohtak-Hisar Highway. The woman had been brutally assaulted as the post-mortem report mentioned several injuries on her private parts. The victim had been residing with her sister for the past three months and was undergoing treatment at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak.
The victim’s sister had lodged a missing complaint with police on February 1 and on February 4, the woman’s body was found from the fields in Akbarpur village with several injury marks on it. Haryana Women Commission has decided to recommend death penalty for the perpetrators of the heinous crime. Kamlesh Panchal, the chairperson of Haryana Women Commission, who visited the victim's family on Saturday, had said that she would demand exemplary punishment for the perpetrators.
After the details of the crime surfaced, the opposition Congress including former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, ClP leader Kiran Choudhary and AICC spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala had strongly condemned the incident and accused the Manohar lal Khattar led State Government for lawlessness in the State.