Two men have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a disabled woman in Kendrapada, India, police said. The men, who live in two different villages in the district, were arrested on Sunday. The father of the 32-year-old woman claimed two men forcefully took his daughter into an area in the district on a bike, where they allegedly raped her. They then allegedly dropped her off near her village and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident, the father alleges.
The two men arrested appeared in court in Kendrapada and had their bail applications rejected; they have been remanded in custody. This comes after a 15-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by five men behind a bakery in India before being allegedly molested by another man in a separate attack.
The child was allegedly lured to an isolated plot in Mumbai before she was allegedly assaulted on the days between October 27 and 28, police said. After the alleged assault in the Powai area, the suspects then threatened to circulate photographs on social media if she told either her family or the police.
In a separate but related incident, the girl was allegedly intercepted, molested and sexually harassed near a pipeline in Powai, officials said. The girl came forward to the Powai Police Station on the morning of October 29 with the help of her family.
Police launched an immediate manhunt and, following property raids, arrested suspects within 24 hours of the alleged incident. Police said none of the accused had a previous criminal record, reports The Statesman.
“Within just 24 hours of receiving the victim’s complaint, Mumbai Police teams conducted raids at various locations and apprehended all the accused,” officials said, as per the INAS report.
Police said that “recognising the gravity of the situation”, officers immediately registered a report under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which relates to serious sexual offences.
Additionally, charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) were invoked.
The legislation was introduced in 2012 to safeguard individuals under the age of 18 from sexual assault and sexual harassment.
