Jharkhand woman gangraped by 17 men as husband held hostage; one accused arrested

In a horrific incident, a woman was allegedly gangraped by 17 drunk men in Jharkhand's Dumka while she was returning from the market with her husband.

The mother of five children was gangraped after her husband was held hostage, according to the complaint lodged by the woman. 

The Incident

The woman, a mother of five, said that she was returning from the market with her husband around 8 pm on Tuesday when 17 men stopped her way. She said the accused were drunk. 

She said they held her hostage and five of them dragged her towards the bushes while the others overpowered her husband. All of them took turns to rape her. The rape victim has been sent for medical examinations.

One rape accused caught, hunt for 16 others on 

The incident occurred under the Mufassil police station area. An FIR was registered in the matter on Wednesday and one accused was caught while the hunt is on for the other 16.

DIG Sudarshan Mandal said a thorough investigation is on and none will be spared. "As per the statement of the woman, she was returning with her husband from a village market on Tuesday night when 17 people intercepted her and took her husband hostage before committing the crime," the DIG said.

Following the incident, BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo has hit out at the ruling state government and said total anarchy prevails in the state and there is no semblance of law and order. "It's jungle raj here. It's a diabolical and dastardly act. The system seems to have crumbled. We demand stronger action against perpetrators of crime through a fast-track court," he said.