Rohtak murder-cum-rape case: 8 youths arrested

Under attack over handling of the rape-cum-murder case of a mentally challenged woman from Nepal, Haryana police today arrested eight youths here and promised action in case of any lapse by its personnel.

The Opposition Congress latched on to the incident, which came to light on February 4, to target the BJP government in the state on the law and order situation, saying it was "yet to wake up from the slumber", and demanded reconstitution of SIT under an IG level officer to go into the horrific incident.

DGP Yashpal Singhal, who visited the crime spot, told PTI that the arrested accused are in their twenties and appear to be criminals.

"The case has been cracked and eight youths out of total nine have been arrested from Gaddikhera village, some 9 km from Rohtak," he said.

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 dumped in a field at a village on the Rohtak-Hisar Highway here.

The woman had been brutally assaulted as the post-mortem report mentions several injuries on her private parts. Stones and blades were found in her stomach.

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) here.

The victim's sister had lodged a 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, Rohtak Superintendent of Police Shashank Anand had said.

On the issue of alleged police apathy, the DGP said 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," the DGP said.

After the details of the crime surfaced, Opposition Congress, including former chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, ClP leader Kiran Choudhary and AICC spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala had strongly deplored the incident and accused the Manohar lal Khattar dispensation of lawlessness in the state.

The Congress also demanded a special investigation team (SIT) under an IG-level officer to probe the case.

Describing the Rohtak incident as eerily similar to the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, Congress spokesperson Surjewala hit out at the BJP government in Haryana saying that it was "yet to wake up from its slumber".

Surjewala alleged that while Haryana BJP government had spent lakhs of rupees on 'Beti Bachao Yojana', Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar and his ministers had not found time to even visit the victim's family so far.