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Eight intoxicated men allegedly gang raped a newly-married 19-year-old woman and filmed the assault after tying her husband to a tree at a popular picnic spot at Bhairav Baba in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa, police said on Friday.
The incident came to light when police arrested five of the accused. The Opposition Congress alleged police hid the matter for four days as a regional industry conclave was being held in Rewa.
Police maintained the matter was not reported immediately as the accused threatened to post the video of the sexual assault on social media if the woman did so. “They [the couple] had gone for a picnic on October 21 afternoon when the eight drunk accused attacked the couple. They tied the man with a tree and five-six of them raped her,” said Rewa police superintendent Vivek Singh. He said the couple are college students who got married recently. Singh added the accused allowed the couple to go after threatening them with consequences if they informed the police.
One of the five arrested accused, whose identities are yet to be revealed, told police that eight of them had gone to Bhairav Baba and some of them smoked marijuana and forced others to do the same. “We lost our senses. One of the group members saw the couple sitting on a hillock. We went there...five-six of us raped the woman. They also thrashed the man before tying him to a tree,” an investigator quoted the accused as saying.
The accused said the woman pleaded to be allowed to go. “The couple was allowed to go only when they promised that they would not inform the police.”
State Congress chief Jitu Patwari referred to the gang-rape in Rewa and said 18-20 women are being raped daily in Madhya Pradesh. “The husband was tied up and the wife was raped in front of him. This matter was not made public for days as there was an investor meeting in Rewa. If this is not jungle raj, then what is it?” he asked.
Madhya Pradesh reported the third-highest rape cases (3,029) in the country as per the 2022 National Crime Records Bureau report. Rajasthan reported 5,399 cases and Uttar Pradesh 3,690. The figures for 2023 have not been released so far.
