Patna: A middle-aged woman and her teenaged daughter were allegedly gang-raped by gun-totting miscreants in Bihar on Wednesday night in a latest incident highlighting the growing “lawlessness” in the state. Bihar has reported 289 incidents of rape till March, indicating an average of three incidents of rape taking place every day in the state.
The incident took place near in Guraru block of Gaya, a southern Bihar district located some 150km from Patna.
Police said a doctor who runs a private clinic in Guraru town was returning home on his bike with wife and his daughter at around 8.30pm when a gang of miscreants stopped them and held them hostage. While the doctor was thrown out in the nearby field after he had his hands and feet tied, his wife and daughter were allegedly gang-raped before his eyes.
“I requested the miscreants to take away cash and other valuables but spare my wife and daughter but they refused to listen to me…they robbed off their modesty before my eyes and I couldn’t do anything,” the doctor told the police on Thursday.
The police while taking the matter seriously have detained 20 persons in connection with the incident. Reports said the victim woman has identified two of detained persons involved in the rape. Based on information provided by the arrested accused persons, the police are now conducting raids to nab the other absconding accused persons.
“We have detained 20 people in connection with the incident. Of them, two have been identified by the victim,” the local Gaya district senior superintendent of police Rajiv Mishra told the media on Thursday. The police have also formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case.
Bihar governor Satya Pal Malik while expressing concern over sexual harassment of females in the state said: “Before informing the police, tell me first (about the incident) and my office will do its best to help you in crisis,” the governor said at a function on Thursday.
The incidents of rape remain a matter of serious concern in Bihar and according to an official report, a total of 289 incidents of rape were reported till March this year. Last year, altogether 1,198 incidents of rapes were reported, followed by 1,008 incidents in 2016, 1,041 in 2015, 1,127 in 2014 and 1,128 in 2013.
Similarly, 927 cases were reported in 2012, 934 in 2011, 795 in 2010, 929 in 2009, 1,041 in 2008, 1,122 in 2007, 1,083 in 2006 and 973 in 2005 — the year when chief minister Nitish Kumar came to power ending 15 years of Rashtriya Janata Dal rule in the state.
