Two Indian Army officers, in their early 20s, were beaten and one of their women friends was allegedly gang-raped at gunpoint in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore on Wednesday.
The two Indian Army officers, aged 23 and 24, were undergoing Young Officers (YO) course at the Infantry School in Mhow cantonment town, about 30 kms from Indore.
What happened?
In the early hours of Wednesday (September 11), the two Army officers along with their two women friends had gone out on a night drive.
According to a report by PTI, around 2 am on Wednesday, a group of 6-7 men, armed with knives, sticks and pistols, approached the car and surrounded it near Jam Gate, along the Mhow-Mandleshwar Road in Madhya Pradesh. They then started beating up one of the officers and a female friend, who were sitting inside the vehicle.
Upon hearing the commotion, the other Army officer and the woman friend, who were on a hilltop, rushed down towards the spot.
“Around 2:30 am, the Army officers were at this isolated stretch near an Army firing range when they were accosted by the accused persons,” a report by The Indian Express quoted Indore Rural SP Hitika Vasal as saying.
The attackers snatched their wallets and other valuable items. One officer and his female friend were detained by the group and the other two were asked to bring Rs 10 lakh in ransom.
This gave the officer, who was told to get the money, a chance to rush within the mobile network range and inform his seniors at Mhow about the incident, who then alerted the police.
As per The Times of India, during this time, the group of armed men gang-raped the other woman at gunpoint.
Moments later, a large police team reached the spot but the attackers had escaped into the forest by then.
Both the Army officers and their women friends were brought to Mhow Civil Hospital for medical examination and, as per doctors, there were signs of injuries on the officers’ bodies.
The medical report confirmed that one of the women was also gang-raped by the attackers.
Two arrested, hunt on for others
A ToI report quoted Additional Superintendent of Police Rupesh Dwivedi as saying that a total of six suspects have been identified so far. Two have been detained.
Indore Rural SP Hitika Vasal said of the two men, who have been arrested, one has a case of loot registered against him in 2016.
“This was not an organised gang. They saw these young people who had gathered at a night spot and decided to attack them. One person also had a pistol on him,” Vasal was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
As many as 10 Station House Officers are part of multiple police teams trying to ascertain the identity and whereabouts of the other accused.
Case filed under sections of BNS
On the basis of the complaint filed by the army officers, a case has been registered under sections 70 (gangrape), 310-2 (dacoity), 308-2 (extortion) and 115-2 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and under sections of the Arms Act based.
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Out on night drive, 2 Army officers beaten, woman friend gangraped at gunpoint in Madhya Pradesh
