Patna: Amid nationwide outrage over the Unnao rape in Uttar Pradesh and Kathua rape in Jammu and Kashmir, two more cases of rape were reported in India’s Bihar state over the past 24 hours.
All the three states are ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or its allies.
In the first incident reported from Patna, the capital of Bihar, a teenaged girl was allegedly gang-raped by four young men late on Saturday night in the heart of the city, raising a big question mark over the prevailing law and order situation in the state.
In the second case, two suspects were arrested when their motorcycle ran out of fuel while they were fleeing after the incident.
Police said the 17-year-old girl was returning home around midnight when four men kidnapped her at gunpoint near the GPO roundabout and gang-raped her at an isolated place along the railway track.
The victim, from Hilsa town in Nalanda district, had lost her way when the men kidnapped her.
Reports said on hearing her cries for help, some residents informed the local police who rushed to the spot and rescued her.
Police arrested two suspects while two are on the run.
“We have arrested two accused persons while another two managed to escape,” police official Ramashankar Singh told journalists on Sunday.
He added the rape survivor had been sent to the hospital for medical examination,
Another incident of rape was reported from Muzaffarpur, known as the political capital of Bihar, on Friday night.
Reports said the victim had gone out to attend nature’s call when two men kidnapped her, took her to an isolated place and gang-raped her.
The two suspects were arrested when their motorcycle ran out of fuel while they were fleeing after the incident.
They were walking on foot with the girl to a nearby petrol pump to buy fuel when a police patrol happened to come to the area and noticed their suspicious activities.
Finally the police arrested them after they failed to give a proper reply.
Incidents of rape remain a matter of grave concern in Bihar, and according to an official report, a total of 1,198 incidents of rapes were reported last year. In 2016, 1,008 cases of rape were reported, followed by 1,041 in 2015, 1,127 in 2014 and 1,128 in 2013.
