Rewari Gang Rape Case: SIT Arrests All 3 Main Accused

The Haryana Police have so far arrested three men, including Nishu, who the police say, is one of the main accused.

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(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Eleven days after a 19-year-old woman from Rewari district was gangraped, the Haryana Police on 23 September said that they’ve arrested two more key accused in the case, including an Army man, who were on the run.

DGP B S Sandhu said with the arrest of Manish and the Army man, Pankaj, all the key accused allegedly involved in the incident, have now been arrested.

“Both the prime accused in the case, who had been on the run, have been arrested,” DGP Sandhu told PTI.

On 21 September, another key accused Nishu was sent to four-day remand and two others, Dr Sanjeev and Deen Dayal were sent to 14 days judicial custody.

Earlier on 18 September, a woman Assistant Sub-Inspector was suspended for alleged 'delay' in taking action in the Rewari gang rape case, even as the Haryana Police carried out raids in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and several other states to nab the two key accused, including an Army man, who are still at large, nearly a week after the crime.

Rewari Superintendent of Police (SP), Rajesh Duggal, has already been moved out of the district over an alleged delay in action over the survivor's complaint.

“The orders to suspend ASI Hiramani of the Women’s Police Station, Rewari, were issued on Monday, 17 September. She has been placed under suspension over allegations of delay in taking action on the complaint and negligence.”

Rewari district police official

Police Failed to Take Action, Allege Victim’s Family

The victim's family alleged that the police failed to take prompt action on their complaint and delayed action citing jurisdictional issues between Rewari and Mahendragarh district units.

The family further alleged that the Women's Police Station in Rewari, after registering a "zero FIR" in the case, delayed action and failed to promptly hand over the probe to the Mahendragarh police, under whose jurisdiction the incident took place.

A zero FIR can be filed at any police station and can later be transferred to the police station concerned.

Meanwhile, under pressure to nab the two absconding key accused six days after the 19-year-old woman from Rewari was gang raped, raids were carried out in several states including Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Multiple teams of Haryana Police went scouting for the absconders in Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana.

Raids are on at Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Delhi, UP and Haryana, a senior police official said. The two key accused, Pankaj, an Army man and Manish, will be nabbed "in a day or so", he said.

Some local villagers claimed before reporters on Tuesday that some of the accused "were roaming freely until Thursday afternoon after which police swung into action".

“One accused Pankaj even attended a funeral in the village on Thursday. Had police acted early, the main culprits would have been nabbed much earlier,” a local claimed.

The case has prompted opposition parties to demand Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's resignation on moral grounds, alleging that the state had failed to protect its daughters.

The Congress had even demanded imposition of President's Rule in the state, alleging that the BJP government had utterly failed to tackle the law-and-order situation.

Villagers Protest Against Incident, Call for Action

Residents of the village where the woman was allegedly gang raped, claimed that the spot where the crime took place was infamous for nefarious activities.

They alleged that there had been incidents of girls being harassed by miscreants at the spot in the past as well.

“We demand an exemplary punishment for the accused. However, our plea is that no innocent youth of the village should be harassed by the police, as many have been called for questioning,” one of the villagers said.

Some villagers also protested, saying that the police were "harassing the innocent youth in the name of questioning".

The Haryana Police have so far arrested three men in the case, including Nishu, who, according to the police, is one of the three main accused.

SIT head SP Nazneen Bhasin told ANI that Nishu was the mastermind of the alleged gangrape:

Main accused Nishu who has been arrested is the mastermind of this (incident). Many aspects are being investigated. Scene of crime and investigation is sealed. I assure you, we are working at the same pace to arrest the other two accused.

The three arrested accused were remanded to a five-day police custody by a court in Kanina, Mahendragarh on Monday

What Happened on That Day

The 19-year-old woman, a school topper hailing from Rewari, was abducted from a bus stop in Kanina town of Mahendragarh district on Wednesday when on way to a coaching class. She was allegedly drugged and gang raped at a room adjoining a tubewell in an agricultural field, the police had said.

Besides Nishu, the two other men arrested in the case have been identified by the Haryana Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) as Sanjeev, a medical practitioner who checked on the woman's health condition after the crime, and Deendayal, the owner of the property where the woman was allegedly gang raped.

Meanwhile, close on the heels of the gang rape of the 19-year-old woman from Rewari, another 17-year-old girl from the district has also alleged that she was raped by a former schoolmate, police said on Tuesday.

In another case, a woman hailing from the Rewari district had on Monday alleged that she had been raped by two persons, who had kidnapped and dragged her into the fields in Haryana's Jind district.

Jind police had lodged an FIR on the complaint of the woman, who is a widow, officials said.