Moga, May 01, 2015: In Punjab’s Moga, where a 14-year-old died after being molested and thrown off a moving bus, a young woman has alleged that she was gang-raped by 11 men, including the husband of her friend.
The woman has alleged that she was visiting a friend on Thursday when the latter’s husband and some men abducted her and took her to a deserted room in the village fields, where they took turns to rape her. The woman told the police that her friend’s husband called other men who raped her too.
A medical examination has confirmed rape. The police have registered a case against the friend and her husband and also 10 unnamed men, but no one has been arrested so far.
On Wednesday, a 14-year-old girl and her mother were molested on a private bus that they had boarded and were later pushed off the moving vehicle. The teen died and her mother is in hospital with severe injuries.
The bus is run by a company owned by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s family and there have been massive protests in Moga outside the hospital where the mother is being treated, amid allegations by the girl’s family that they are being pressured to "settle the case."
Four men have been arrested and charged with molestation and murder.
The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party brought up the girl’s death in Parliament on Thursday, attacking Punjab’s ruling party, the Akali Dal, and the Badals.
"Moga is Punjab’s Nirbhaya," said Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, drawing parallels with the brutal gang-rape and murder of a medical student in a moving bus in Delhi in 2012.
The Congress has demanded a judicial inquiry, alleging that local authorities will not act because of the Badal connection.
Chief Minister Badal said on Thursday that it was "unfortunate" it happened in a bus owned by the family. His daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur Badal, a minister at the Centre, said the guilty would be punished severely.
The union home ministry has sought a report.
Courtesy: Ndtv