Bhopal:

Two horrific incidents of rape have been reported from Madhya Pradesh – one from Indore and another from Rewa – even as outrage continues over the August rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital and the rape of two minors in Maharashtra’s Badlapur.

In the Rewa case, a couple at a picnic spot near a temple was attacked.

The husband was tied to a tree and his wife was gang-raped. Her rapists filmed the assault and threatened to release the video online if the couple filed a police complaint. This was on October 21.

The police filed a case the following day and some suspects have been arrested.

Indore Rape Case

Meanwhile, in Indore a neurodivergent woman was sexually assaulted by a daily wage worker.

CCTV footage showed the woman wandering, half-naked and bleeding, in the city’s Sadar Bazaar area around 3.45 am Tuesday. The cops, acting with more haste in this case, reviewed the footage and found she had been accosted, hours earlier, by the worker, now identified as Sonu.

The footage showed Sonu leading the woman to a waste treatment facility less than an hour before she was found. The police later said Sonu had confessed to the rape.

Congress Attacks BJP Over Double Rapes

After the Indore rape the state’s Congress chief, Jitu Patwari, hit out at the ruling BJP on X.

“The daughter is naked on the road (while) the Chief Minister is busy at an event,” he said, taking a swipe over the Ladli Behna Yojna, a women’s welfare initiative launched by Mr Yadav’s predecessor, Shivraj Chouhan, and which was credited with helping the BJP win last year’s Assembly election.

Mr Patwari also compared the condition in which the Indore woman was found to the disrobing of Draupadi in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, asking, “Can’t the Chief Minister who considers himself ‘God’ see the disrobing of Draupadi?” “I am angry and worried at the plight of our daughters. Crimes against our daughters are not stopping but the Chief Minister is sitting with his eyes closed.”

Responding for the state government, junior Minister Narendra Shivaji Patel pointed out that the accused – in the Indore case – had been arrested and emphasised the BJP’s commitment to handling such matters sensitively. “The law will teach the accused a lesson… they will not be spared.”

Mr Patel also said the BJP government prioritises the welfare of neurodivergent individuals, with the Social Justice and Welfare Department involved in supporting them. “Regardless of the city, the department is carrying out responsibilities diligently,” he claimed.

2023 Ujjain Rape Case

The Rewa and Indore sexual assault cases have brought the spotlight back on Madhya Pradesh after a horrifying incident from Ujjain in September last year. A minor girl was raped and left bleeding on the streets, and went from door to door asking for help, only to be turned away by heartless citizens.

READ | Man Arrested For Teen’s Rape Near Ujjain, Tried To Escape From Custody

For two hours, she was ignored by more than 500 homes and restaurants, as well as officials at a toll booth, till a temple priest spotted and rushed her to a hospital, and called the police.

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Indore:

Police on Thursday said they have arrested three of the six persons who allegedly assaulted two army officers and raped their woman friend near Mhow in Madhya Pradesh.

The announcement of arrests came on a day Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi slammed the BJP over the incident, alleging “non-existent” law and order in the states ruled by the saffron party.

Anil Baror (27) and Pawan Bansunia (23) were produced before a local court which remanded them in police custody for five days, said a police official. Another accused, Ritesh Bhabhar (25), was arrested on Thursday night.

Superintendent of Police (Rural) Hitika Vasal told PTI that Bhabhar was accused of threatening the two army officers and their two women friends with a pistol during the incident, while the other accused were carrying sticks.

A total of six accused have been identified in connection with the incident that took place in the early hours of Wednesday near the popular tourist spot Jam Gate, about 30 km from Mhow military cantonment, police said.

“Several teams are on the lookout for the three on the run accused, and a reward of Rs 10,000 has been announced for (information about) each of them,” the SP said.

The army officers, aged 23 and 24, undergoing the Young Officers course at the Infantry School in Mhow cantonment town, had gone out for a picnic with their two female friends.

The accused arrived at the picnic spot around 2 am, and started assaulting one of the officers and his female friend who were sitting in the car, police said.

Upon hearing the commotion, the other officer and his woman friend, who were on a hilltop, reached the spot.

Later, after police reached the spot, the army officers and their female friends were brought to Mhow civil hospital, where a medical examination confirmed that one of the women was raped, an official said.

A case has been registered under sections 70 (gang rape), 310-2 (dacoity), 308-2 (extortion) and 115-2 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under sections of the Arms Act based on the complaint filed by the officer.

One of those arrested reportedly has a case of loot registered against him in 2016.

The crime spot is located in a hilly region surrounded by forests, said SP Vasal.

Badgonda police station in-charge Lokendra Singh Hirore said the accused held one of the couples captive while beating them up, and told the other couple that the hostages would be released only when they give them Rs 10 lakh.

“The complainant has told us that the accused took his woman friend away to a place and he suspected that she was raped. The woman’s statement is yet to be recorded,” the official said.

Rahul Gandhi slammed the BJP over the attack, saying the negative attitude of the BJP government towards rising crimes against women is “extremely worrying”.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the prime minister talks big about women’s safety, but women across the country are still waiting for a serious effort for their safety.

In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said the violence against the two army men and the rape of their female companion in Madhya Pradesh is enough to shame the entire society.

“Law and order in BJP-ruled states is almost non-existent and the negative attitude of BJP government towards the increasing crimes against women is extremely worrying,” he said.

This audacity of the criminals is a result of the total failure of the administration and the unsafe environment prevailing in the country which is also a restriction on the freedom and aspirations of the daughters of India, Gandhi said.

In her post on X, Priyanka Gandhi said the incident of gang rape of a woman after holding army officers hostage in Madhya Pradesh, and that of the naked body of a woman being found on the highway in Uttar Pradesh are “heart-wrenching”.

Every day on average 86 women are becoming victims of rape and brutality in the country, she said.

“From home to outside, from road to office, women are not safe anywhere. Half of the country’s population is not only unsafe, but due to such brutality, the morale of crores of women is broken every day,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

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