Topper gangrape: police question people but no arrests yet
Chandigarh, Sep 15 : The Haryana Police on Saturday detained two persons for questioning in the gangrape of a 19-year-old board examination topper in Mahendragarh district.
Special Investigating Team (SIT) chief Nazneen Bhasin told media in Rewari that the rape of the young woman had been confirmed in the medical examination.
However, the three accused in the gang-rape case continued to evade the police, 85 hours after the incident.
The accused include a serving Armyman Pankaj, and two other youth, Manish and Nishu. All belong to Kanina village.
The police said it had detained a local medical practitioner, who was called by the accused youth when the condition of the rape victim deteriorated on Wednesday (September 12) after she had been sexually assaulted.
Police officials said that the medical practitioner gave the victim first aid after he was threatened by the accused.
The police has also detained and is questioning a local farmer, Dayanand. It was the room in the agricultural fields owned by the farmer that the accused allegedly gangraped the victim.
The Haryana Police has drawn flak for not being able to arrest any of the accused even after three days of the incident.
State Director General of Police (DGP) B.S. Sandhu said on Saturday that the accused would be arrested soon.
"One of the accused, Pankaj Fauji, is with the Army and is supposed to report for duty. We have sent teams to nab him," Sandhu told media.
Pankaj is with an Army unit posted at Kota in neighbouring Rajasthan. He got married last year.
Though the victim initially told the police that she was allegedly gang-raped by three men, her father claimed that she had seen eight to 10 men around her when she regained consciousness following the gangrape on Wednesday near Kanina village, around 350 km from here.
The victim, who has identified her attackers, and her parents had said earlier that the police were not taking action in the matter and were dealing with it casually.
The accused, who belong to the same village as the victim and knew her, allegedly kidnapped the victim from Kanina bus stand while she was on her way for coaching classes.
She said they gave her water to drink which was laced with a sedative. They then took turns raping her in a room adjoining agricultural fields till she fell unconscious.
They later dumped her at a bus stop near the village. One accused, Manish, even called up the victim's father and told him to pick her from the bus stand.
The victim, a second year student in a college, topped the board examination and was felicitated by the government.
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Vijayan calls Congress 'B-team' of BJP amid Rajya Sabha poll results
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday accused the Congress of acting as the "B-team" of the BJP, citing developments in the Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha and Bihar.
"The results of today's Rajya Sabha elections once again confirm the reality that the Congress party functions as the B-team of the Sangh Parivar," the veteran CPI(M) leader said in a statement here.
"While the Congress seeks votes from the people by raising slogans against the BJP, it repeatedly adopts a political approach that opens the door for the BJP's victory at crucial moments," he added.
His remarks came as voting for four Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha was held on Monday, with reports that at least five MLAs from the opposition Biju Janata Dal and Congress cross-voted in favour of a BJP-supported Independent candidate.
Vijayan said such developments showed a pattern in several states.
"This is not an isolated incident. In several states, it is the Congress that has created conditions for the BJP to gain additional Rajya Sabha seats through MLA resignations, cross-voting and political manoeuvring," he said.
Referring to Bihar, he said the political situation there had further strengthened the argument.
In Bihar, the ruling NDA made a clean sweep of all five Rajya Sabha seats in the biennial elections held on Monday.
Among those elected were Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur, BJP leader Shivesh Kumar and Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha.
According to officials, at least three Congress MLAs and one from the Rashtriya Janata Dal did not turn up for voting, which helped the NDA secure victory.
"Anti-BJP slogans in public, but support for the BJP in practice -- this is the real politics of the Congress," Vijayan said.
"The Congress claiming to be the leader of secular politics while shamelessly helping the BJP is nothing but a mockery of Indian democracy," he added.
