Gang-rape survivor allegedly raped again by same men 3 years later

Chandigarh: A Dalit student in Haryana has been gangraped for a second time in three years by the same five men, the latest attack being a bid to pressure her into withdrawing her case, police said on Sunday.The daughter of a poor charpoy-maker was first assaulted in 2013 in Bhiwani, but the accused threatened the survivor’s family, and forced them to shift to Rohtak.On Wednesday, the five men abducted the 21-year-old, who is pursuing a master’s degree from Rohtak’s MD University, from near her college, drove to a nearby place and gang-raped her. They left her to die in some bushes, where she lay unconscious with her clothes torn before she was seen by a passerby and taken to hospital.The five — Anil alias Bittu, Raju alias Jagmohan, Sandeep Singh, Mausam Kumar and Aakash — were booked for the crime after the survivor lodged a police complaint. They are all in their late 20s. They are all former students of the same college. Four of them have small businesses or private jobs. One is jobless. Two of the accused are also Dalits, while the three others belong to an 'upper caste'.But three days after the crime, police are yet to make any arrest. Her brother said two of the five accused were arrested in 2013, but they came out on bail. "We had filed a case in court for the arrest of the remaining three and re-arrest of the two on bail. We were getting constant threats from the accused for an out-of-court settlement, but we remained firm," he said.Various Dalit organisations took out a protest march on Sunday and held a demonstration at the residence of Rohtak MLA Manish Grover."This is very unfortunate. The accused were known to all. But police could not arrest them. The survivor did not get security," said R K Ranga, Haryana president of All India Scheduled Class Employees Federation.DSP Pushpa Khatari, said, "Police are conducting raids to nab the accused. We are waiting for a forensic report before proceeding further."