Assam:

A 30-year-old woman was allegedly raped and poured acid on in front of her two children in Assam’s Cachar district, police said on Wednesday. The incident took place on January 22 when the 28-year-old accused – the victim’s neighbour – barged into her house.

According to the police, the two had engaged in a verbal spat during which the victim had snubbed her neighbour. Hours later, the accused forced his way into the woman’s home when her husband was away.

When the victim’s husband returned home, he found his wife on the floor with her mouth, hands, and feet tied. An acid-like substance was also poured on her body, officials said.

The woman was rushed to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital and is in a critical condition, officials said.

The accused is currently on the run.

The victim’s husband has filed a case of sexual assault and the police are on the lookout for the accused.

Officials are also awaiting the medical report to ascertain whether the woman was raped.

Guwahati:

A 12-year-old girl was allegedly dragged from her home to a paddy field and sexually assaulted by her uncle in Assam’s Cachar district on Sunday evening. The police have arrested the 50-year-old accused from the Katigorah area near the India-Bangladesh border, where the incident reportedly happened.

According to a police complaint, she was in the washroom for a bath when her uncle dragged her to the paddy field near their house.

She was later found running from the fields towards home by her family members. Her clothes were torn and she was crying, as per the complaint. Initially, she was unable to speak and fainted, it added.

The girl revealed the man (husband of her father’s younger sister), who stays in the same area, dragged her to the field and sexually assaulted her, as per the complaint.

Her mother had filed a First Information Report or FIR at the Katigorah police station, demanding the strictest punishment for the culprit.

The police said that they registered a case against the accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) act based on the complaint and sent the victim for mandatory medical examinations.

Further investigation is underway, they said.

New Delhi:

A minor girl was allegedly raped in Assam’s Nagaon on Friday, days after a teen was allegedly gang-raped in the district.

The girl was allegedly raped by two motorcycle-borne in Nagaon district’s Dhing when she was returning home with her younger brother. According to reports, they forcefully took her to an isolated place and raped her.

Police have registered a case and launched a massive manhunt to nab the two accused.

“The younger brother managed to run away and informed the local residents, who came and rescued the girl,” a local resident said.

Last month, a 14-year-old girl, who had gone for her coaching class, was allegedly gang-aped by three persons in Dhing.

She was later found in a semi-conscious state near a pond, with her bicycle beside her on August 22.

The incidents come amid a nationwide outrage over the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in Kolkata on August 9.

New Delhi:

A key accused in the rape case of a minor girl died after trying to escape police custody this morning, police said. The accused, identified as Tafujal Islam, was being taken to the location – where the crime allegedly took place – for a re-creation of the crime scene around 4 am. He then escaped from police custody and jumped into the pond at Dhing in Assam’s Nagaon district.

A search operation was launched and his body was recovered with the help of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) after about two hours, the police said.

“After his interrogation, he was taken for crime scene re-creation. When he was taken there, he suddenly tried to pull the handcuff from a constable’s grip and flee. He then fell in a nearby pond,” a senior police official said.

Our constable was also injured, he said.

“We are investigating as to how he was able to flee,” he added.

Tafujal Islam was also going to take the police to another accused’s residence, police sources said.

He was arrested on Friday after a 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three persons in Assam’s Nagaon district on Thursday evening. Two other suspects in the case are on the run.

The alleged assault reportedly took place when the girl was returning from a coaching class.

She was found in a semi-conscious state near a pond with her bicycle beside her, local residents said. She was on the roadside for about an hour before residents rescued her.

Himanta Biswa Sarma On Assam Rape Case

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had called it a “crime against humanity” and said that it has “struck our collective conscience”.

“We will NOT SPARE anyone and BRING the perpetrators to JUSTICE. I’ve directed the Assam Police chief to visit the site and ensure swift action against such monsters,” he had said in a post on X on Friday.

The horrific incident at Dhing, involving a minor, is a crime against humanity and has struck our collective conscience.

We will NOT SPARE anyone & BRING the perpetrators to JUSTICE. I’ve directed @DGPAssamPolice to visit the site and ensure swift action against such monsters.

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) August 23, 2024

The girl is recovering in hospital and a report of the medical test to confirm sexual assault is awaited.

Shops, markets, and education institutions in the area remained shut on Friday as a mark of protest. Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed to enhance security during this period.

The incident comes amid widespread protests against sexual violence in the aftermath of the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at a Kolkata hospital on August 9.

New Delhi:

A deputy superintendent of police (DSP) in Assam was on Sunday arrested for allegedly repeatedly raping a minor domestic help.

He has been identified as Kiran Nath and was posted at the Lachit Borphukan Police Academy in Golaghat district.

The victim, 15, alleged that she was repeatedly raped by the senior police official. She said that Nath had forcibly confined her at his residence and used to torture her with the help of his family members.

Her family members lodged a complaint at the Dergaon police station on Saturday, following which a case was registered against him on Sunday.

Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Gyanendra Pratap Singh said that Nath has been arrested on the basis of evidence that has come up during the investigation.

“Zero tolerance towards sexual misconduct amongst police personnel remains corner stone of the policy of Assam Police,” Mr Singh said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Reference allegations of sexual misconduct towards the housemaid by a DSP posted at LBPA Dergaon – Case No 42 under section 376,506 of IPC and Section 6 of POCSO Act has been registered at Dergaon PS, District Golaghat.
DSP Kiran Nath, presently posted at @LBPA_Assam has been…

— GP Singh (@gpsinghips) March 17, 2024

Nath has been arrested under section 376 (raping a female under sixteen years), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012.

Police said that they have recorded the statement of the victim and other witnesses, and are further investigating the matter.

Nagaon, Assam:

A minor girl was allegedly raped and killed by a relative in Assam’s Hojai district, police said on Sunday.

The body of the girl was recovered from her house on Saturday night, they said.

The family members have alleged that she was raped and killed by a relative when she was alone in the house, a police officer said.

“The body has been sent to Nagaon Civil Hospital for post-mortem. We have launched an investigation, and are on the lookout for the accused,” he said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)