A health worker was raped by four persons including a minor at a knife point inside Chhattisgarh’s health centre. The incident took place in the Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur (MCB) district. Three of the accused including the 17-year-old have been taken into custody while the fourth accused is absconding.
India Today’s report on the incident says:
The incident took place at a sub-health centre in Chhipchhip village panchayat, under Jhagrakhand police station limits, on Friday afternoon, said Dipak Saini, Station House Officer (SHO), Jhagrakhand. The woman was alone at the facility located on the outskirts of the village when the minor and three of his associates barged in.
On Saturday morning, a complaint was lodged by the victim, following which the police swung into action and nabbed the accused.
They also allegedly filmed the act before fleeing the spot, the official said. A case has been registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Arms Act and the Information Technology Act.
“The three accused came to the sub-health centre and tied up the victim. Only the minor raped the victim while the other two recorded the act”, said Additional SP Nimesh Barainya.
A report by Dainik Jagran says the health officer is a resident of Paradol gram panchayat and travelled five kilometres to the sub-health centre daily. Sarpanch Angad Singh said that he and the secretary left the office located in the same compound after locking it at around 12-1 that afternoon.
The victim was alone at the centre as her colleagues were away on vaccination duty. The SP identified the minor accused’s accomplices as Ramkumar and Omprakash. The accomplices borrowed the fourth accused Kishan’s mobile phone to record the despicable act. The accused freed the health worker at around 5 in the evening and threatened her not to reveal the incident to anyone.
Even though police are investigating the case, the shocking incident in broad daylight at the sub-health centre has raised several questions regarding the safety of women in the Congress-ruled state. BJP members protested against the state government at the Jhagrakhand police station. BJP Zilla President Anil Kesarwani pointed out that crimes were on the rise in the state under Congress’ rule.
Earlier this month, reports of a minor being gang raped by youth Congress leader Mohd Shahnawaz and four of his friends had come to light from Chhattisgarh. A 16-year-old girl was gang-raped by six people, including Congress’s youth wing president of Manendragarh district in Chhattisgarh, at a hotel in Bilaspur four months ago.
Although the incident occurred four months ago, the minor girl recently mustered the courage and went to Chirmiri police station in Manendragarh district with her mother to lodge a complaint against the accused.
In her complaint, she stated that the six men took her to a hotel in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur and gang-raped her. Shahnawaz and three others were arrested on October 7 while police have launched search operations for two others, who are absconding.
(This story has been reproduced here with permission from Hindu Post.)
