MP woman picnicking with husband gang-raped; 7 detained

A newly married woman on an outing with her husband was allegedly raped by five men in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district, and seven persons were detained on Friday in connection with the attack, the police said.

According to the police, the alleged incident occurred on Monday at a picnic spot in Gurh tehsil.

The Congress trained its gun on the Bharatiya Janata Party government, alleging that a "jungle raj" prevailed in the state.

Talking to PTI, Rewa Superintendent of Police Vivek Singh said, "We have detained seven persons, including the suspects who allegedly raped the woman. We are on the lookout for one more person."

He said the probe is underway, and the accused will be arrested after following due procedure.

The victim got married recently. The couple are in the age group of 19-20 and still in college, Rewa headquarters deputy auperintendent of police, Himali Pathak said.

The woman told the police that one of the five persons who allegedly sexually assaulted her has tattoos on his hand and chest.

Terming the case as "sensitive", the official said the police are treading carefully to ensure that the survivor's identity is not disclosed.

She said the couple approached the Gurh police station around 1.30 pm on Tuesday.

"The FSL staff (forensic science laboratory) and I rushed to the spot. The medical test of the survivor was conducted, and an FIR was registered the same day at 7 pm," the DSP said.

The official said that according to the woman's version of events, she and her husband had a fight near a fountain, about 2 km from a famous temple in the Gurh industrial area.

The woman, in her statement, alleged that five men took turns to rape her near the fountain, some 20 km from the district headquarters, she said.

SP Singh said the accused held the victim's husband hostage far away from where the assault occurred.

The DSP said the accused had also recorded a video of the act.

Meanwhile, MP Congress chief Jitu Patwari alleged that the victim's husband was tied and she was raped in front of him.

"The incident did not come into the public domain for two days. Is this not the jungle raj? The state home department has collapsed," Patwari told reporters.

The home department should be renamed as the "jungle raj department", he said, claiming that crimes were the highest in Madhya Pradesh and 18 to 20 girls were raped in the state daily.