Punjab police on Saturday arrested six men accused of raping a 29-year-old woman near Gurdaspur district. One of the offenders is absconding.
"We have arrested six accused while raids were being conducted to arrest the last one. All have been booked for rape," a police officer told IANS.
The accused were identified as Daler Singh, Ravi, Jaswinder Singh, Jagpreet Singh, Gora and Satwant Singh.
The victim, a mother of two, lodged a complaint at Kahnuwan town police station that day alleging that she was raped by seven men. The police immediately swung into action and traced down six of them.
In her complaint to the police, the victim said that she took a bus to her in-law's village in Gukla on Friday when the driver and conductor of the bus kidnapped and forcibly took her to Gurdaspur, some 260 km away from Chandigarh, on a motorcycle.
Five other accomplices joined the duo and allegedly raped her throughout the night before dumping her in a village on Saturday morning. She then rushed to Kahnuwan town police station to file a complaint.
The police said that the victim's medical report confirmed rape and the accused had confessed of their involvement in the crime during the preliminary interrogation.
In a similar incident which triggered nationwide outrage, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student was gang-raped by six in a moving bus in Delhi last month. The victim died and the accused were arrested. The accused are currently facing trial and could face death penalty if convicted.
