In a shocking incident, a young woman in the Padhar area of Betul district in Madhya Pradesh was gang-raped by seven youths late on Wednesday night. The accused threw the male cousin of the survivor, who was accompanying her, in a well after thrashing him, Betul police have said.
The gang-rape, amid the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, comes as a shocker. The survivor is undergoing treatment and is said to be in a stable condition.
Five of the accused have been arrested and search for the other two, who are absconding, is on, Betul Superintendent of Police, Dharmendra Singh Bhadoria told THE WEEK. Sources said that three of the seven accused are minors, but the SP said that this will have to be confirmed.
The incident occurred when the young woman and her cousin were returning to their home in a village of Padhar area after refuelling their motorbike at a petrol pump. The seven accused, on three motorcycles, accosted the duo while they were checking the dysfunctional headlight of the bike near Padhar village, police sources said.
Both were then forcibly taken to the nearby Pisajodi forest area. Here, the cousin of the survivor was thrashed by the accused and thrown into a dug well. They then raped the young woman.
“The youth (cousin of survivor) managed to come out of the well and informed the family members, who then rushed to the spot. The accused who were trying to take the girl away then fled the spot. Our team arrested five of them later in the night,” SP Bhadoria said while speaking to THE WEEK.
Four of the five arrested accused have been identified as Shubham Bele, Lokesh Soni, Sandeep Bhatia and Pawan Bele, while the fifth is said to be a minor.
A week ago, on April 22, a seven-year-old girl had been raped in Damoh district and the accused had tried to damage the eyes of the survivor. The incident had sparked an outrage in the state.
