For three hours, a 19-year-old college girl was tied up and raped by four men, who took breaks for tea and gutka before returning to assault her repeatedly under a bridge in the heart of Bhopal.

reuters/representational image

What happened after the rapists let her go was no less horrifying. Three police stations refused to take her complaint — although both her parents are in police — and a GRP officer mocked her for "coming with a filmy story".

The parents — her father is a sub-inspector with a security force and mother with the CID — and the girl nabbed two of the suspects in a dramatic daylight scuffle on Wednesday. Only then was a complaint registered. An embarrassed police force suspended SI R N Tekam of MP Nagar police station on Thursday for not accepting her complaint.

The horrifying gang rape has shaken Bhopal, where people take pride in their city as one of the safest for women. The spot where she was raped has some of the busiest roads and rail tracks — the bustling Habibganj station is just 100 metres away, and an RPF post just 50m away. Thousands of cars drove past just 100 metres from where she was stripped, tied up and raped repeatedly. Yet, no one heard a thing.

bccl/representational image

The survivor shuttles between her hometown, about an hour's journey from Bhopal, every day as she is preparing for the UPSC exams.

On Tuesday evening, the complaint notes, after her coaching classes got over, she began her short walk along the tracks towards Habibganj station. Around 7 pm, a man now identified as Golu Bihari Chadhar — out on bail after being charged with her infant daughter's murder — grabbed her by her hand. She kicked him. Angry, Golu called out to an accomplice, Amar Ghuntu, and the two of them started dragging her towards a nullah. The girl kept fighting and hit both of them with a stone.

Furious, they hit her with a stone as well, tied her up, and raped her. After around 15 minutes, Golu went to fetch gutka and cigarettes, the complaint notes, leaving Amar to watch over her. Amar and Golu are brothers-in-law and married to two sisters.

The girl asked for some clothes because hers had been torn to shreds. Golu went back and got some clothes, perhaps of his wife's — and also brought along two others to join in. She was raped again, this time Rajesh and Ramesh allegedly joining the other two. The horror went on until 10 pm when the brothers-in-law finally allowed her to dress and leave — but after she had handed over her earrings, watch and phone.

ap/representational image

She somehow walked to the RPF outpost at Habibganj station and called her parents. Her father was already looking for her. Seeing how traumatised she was, he took her home. The next morning, the family went to MP Nagar to file a complaint. An SI went to check the spot and told them to go to Habibganj police station, staff from where redirected them to Habibganj GRP. It is at the third stop that an officer mocked the girl, saying she was "making up a filmy story".

"While coming from Habibganj, my daughter saw two of the rapists loitering in front of Mansarowar Complex, which is around 500 metres from the spot of crime," said the mother. The cop parents and the feisty survivor chased down Amar and Golu and nabbed them. "We handed over the duo to GRP Habibganj," said the mother.

"It's one of the worst experiences of my life. If I, as a policewoman, have to face such problems in filing my daughter's gangrape complaint, I can't imagine what a common man goes through," said the mother. "SHO GRP Mohit Saxena and SI Uikey misbehaved with us and said they wouldn't file any case. SI Uikey alleged that we were making a 'false filmy complaint'," she added.

Originally Published In The Times Of India