22-yr-old gang-raped in Sonia's constituency

A 22-year-old girl was on Sunday night gang-raped in a village in Rae Bareli, the parliamentary constituency of United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, about 60 km from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow.

Four of the culprits were tracked down and arrested on Monday while the hunt is on for the fifth man who had allegedly enticed an innocent Rekha Pandey to a flat where she was raped.

The incident acquires greater significance because the crime was committed in the well-guarded residential colony of National Thermal Power Corporation that runs a huge power generation plant in Unchahar town.

According to a police spokesman, "Rekha was being pursued by her neighbour Ashish Misra, who was trying to woo her on the promise of getting her a job in NTPC."

"Eventually Rekha fell into his trap and agreed to join him to NTPC, some distance away from the village; but instead

of taking her to the office, he enticed her into his friend's flat in the colony where four of his friends were already present."

Identified as Amit Jaiswal, Rehman, Gulbadan and Ashutosh Dwivedi, the boys in their twenties, raped her one after the other. Ashish, who kept himself posted outside the house on guard, returned at the end to rape the poor girl.

The FIR, later lodged by the victim stated that she was overpowered by all the four boys, who  sexually assaulted her one by one.

"Initially, Amit went out of the flat, leaving me in the clutches of his friends, but returned some time later to rape me," said Rekha in her police complaint.

Rae Bareli SP Ajay Mohan Sharma told media persons, "Cases have been registered under section 376 of IPC against all the five boys, four of whom were arrested. We will soon get the fifth one too and see to it that they do not get spared under any circumstances."