On 27th August, two contract workers at government-run Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Hospital in Jodhpur were taken into custody for raping a 15-year-old girl on the night of 25th August. She had gone to the hospital that same evening following a fight with her mother, according to information provided by the police. Police found her near the hospital canteen on the campus on 26th August after getting information and notified her family members.
The accused had spotted the lone girl at the institution and struck up a conversation with her. Afterwards, they led her astray and took her close to an isolated region behind the hospital’s biomedical waste dumpyard, where they sexually assaulted her. The girl’s family, meanwhile, conducted a thorough search for her. On 26th August, the family filed a report at the Soorasagar police station after they were unable to find her. The youngster reported the event to the authorities after being brought to the police station. The cops then returned to the hospital and looked through CCTV footage captured inside and outside the building. They were able to identify the perpetrators as hospital sanitary staff members who were employed on a contract basis.
On 27th August, the girl was sent by the police for a medical evaluation, during which the rape was verified and a statement was recorded. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) Rajarshi Raj Verma, her father filed a missing person’s report at the Soorsagar police station on 25th August night and stated that his daughter had been manipulated by an unknown individual. The official mentioned, “While we had been searching for the girl, we received information that she was present in the canteen of MG Hospital. Police rushed to the spot and took her to the police station.”
He conveyed that she told authorities she fled home on the 25th of August evening after being scolded by her mother. Two hours later the minor revealed that she was sexually violated by two people in a private area on the hospital premises on the same night. “On this information, a team rushed to the hospital for spot verification and identification of the accused. We scanned CCTV grabs and found the two accused, who were identified by the girl,” he noted.
It was discovered that both of the culprits were contract sanitary employees of the hospital following their identification and information from the hospital administration. According to the police, they enticed her with food, brought her to a secluded area on the hospital grounds close to the inmates’ cells and gang-raped her there. “The victim’s statement will be recorded before a magistrate, after which an identification parade will be conducted to confirm the suspects. Based on the results of this process, the suspects will be formally arrested,” informed the DCP. A forensic team also visited the hospital premises to collect evidence from the scene.
A case of gang rape has been launched under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and pertinent provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The Mahatma Gandhi Hospital’s superintendent, Dr Fateh Singh Bhati, claimed that hospital personnel had been instructed to examine the lighting in the vicinity of the incident. “Measures are being taken to enhance security, including installing additional lights.” He added that none of the two accused was now employed or on contract at their hospital. However, one of them might have had a contract job there in the past.
Three similar rape cases in 24 hours jolt Jodhpur
On 27th August, a one and half-year-old child was reportedly gang raped by her two neighbours in the Boranada police station area in Jodhpur. The incident was reported to the police by a youth on the same night with the help of the child helpline. The cops then talked to the victim’s family and nabbed the accused after which they were interrogated. In another incident, an underage girl was sexually assaulted in the Mahamandir area of Jodhpur city.
Her family members lodged a police complaint and informed that she had gone to attend the Janmashtami celebrations on the night of 26th August when a youth raped her. Afterwards, she returned home and narrated the ordeal to her family following which they approached the authorities and submitted a complaint. On the other hand, a girl in Jodhpur’s Vivek Vihar police station area also accused a young guy of rape. They were in a live-in relationship and shared a home, however, she charged that he took advantage of the situation and sexually exploited her.
