The primary accused wanted in the rape case of a 25-year old woman at the ongoing farmers’ protest site at Tikri border was arrested by the Jhajjar police in Bhiwani on Wednesday. As per reports, the two other accused named in the FIR who were on the run have also been arrested by the police.
#NewsAlert | Police arrest 3 accused in the Tikri border sexual assault case.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) June 10, 2021
Details by Gurpreet. pic.twitter.com/4ZKHlUrxox
The arrests in the case have been made after a month on the complaint of the victim’s father who alleged that his daughter was sexually assaulted at the Tikri border.
As per the report, the prime accused Anil Malik confessed to having recorded the incident and the video has been recovered by the police. The three accused were produced before a local court on Thursday and have been sent to police custody for further investigation. The police have said that they have all the required evidence in the case.
A reward of ₹25,000 each had been announced for the arrest of Anil Malik a resident of New Delhi, and his accomplice Anup Chinaut of Hisar, and Ankush Sangwan of Charkhi Dadri.
Bahadurgarh DSP Pawan Sharma, who is heading the SIT, said, “After interrogating 22 people, we learnt that Anil had raped the woman and Anup had supported him.”
The DSP also informed that a woman named Yogita Suhag had told the SIT that she had made a video of the victim, in which she had alleged that Anil had misbehaved with her when they were coming to Tikri.
The victim had come from West Bengal on April 12 in a train to join the farmer’s protest where she was sexually assaulted. The victim who later got infected with the Covid-19 virus died at a private hospital in Bahadurgarh on April 30.
Farmer leaders were aware of the incident
Professional protestor Yogendra Yadav, who is currently protesting on behalf of ‘farmers’, on May 10 admitted to how he knew about the sexual harassment faced by the woman as well as her possible kidnapping by the culprits but turned a blind eye. He made these revelations in a press conference.
The victim’s father too had informed that Yadav was in touch with his daughter since April 24, before her death, and was aware of her predicament. However, he did not inform the police about the incident, which raises the question of whether he wanted to hide the misdeeds of the accused.