Bhopal: In a bid to publicly shame and chastise rapists, the Bhopal police paraded four men, accused of gangraping a 20-year-old girl, in busy city streets on Sunday.
The victim, a college student, had registered a complaint with the Maharana Pratap (MP) Nagar Police Station on Sunday morning.
One of the accused persons – 21-year-old Shailendra Dangi, victim’s senior in her college – called her to a restaurant in the MP Nagar locality on Saturday. The duo met up as planned and had a fight over an issue. He then snatched her cell phone and took her to his friend Sonu Dangi’s (21) room near Apsara cinema, said the police.
In the room, Sonu along with two more friends – Dhiraj Rajput (26) and Chiman Rajput (25) – were already present.
She was then raped by Shailendra and Dhiraj, while Sonu and Chiman helped them. Afterwards they let her go, but threatened to kill her and her family and warned not to disclose the incident to anyone.
Of late, police in Madhya Pradesh have taken to parading habitual eve-teasers or those accused of sexual offences through streets, as a measure of deterrence after the government came under fire for increase in crime against women.
All were booked for gang-rape as they were supposed to have acted with a common intention, additional superintendent of police Vikas Kumar Sahwal said. IPC sections 376 (rape), 376 (d) (gang-rape) and 365 (kidnapping) were pressed against them.
The accused have confessed to the crime, DIG Choudhary said, adding that further probe is on.
When asked why police is parading the accused through the streets, Bhopal Inspector General of Police Jaideep Kumar said it has boosted women’s confidence, and they are now coming forward to lodge complaints in such cases.
The parading has instilled a fear in offenders, he said.
Bureau Report
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