Veerwati, wife of accused Sukhbir, at their residence at Amb Sahib Colony in Mohali on Monday. (Express Photo by Jasbir Malhi)
Chandigarh Police, probing the alleged abduction and gang rape of a college student, questioned all the four accused on Monday, but are yet to arrest anybody in the case. The accused told the police on Monday that the woman had levelled false charges against them at the behest of her family who had an old enmity with at least two of the accused.
Four men – Bablu, Arif, Sukhvir and his brother Satish – were booked by Chandigarh Police on Friday on charges of abduction, gang rape and forcing the woman to marry Bablu against her wish.
Bablu submitted certain documents as proof of his marriage with the woman and claimed that he and the woman had a relationship and she eloped with him. “Police questioned Bablu today. He submitted a rent deed that he and the woman signed with their landlord in Kanpur. The woman had submitted a copy of her Aadhaar card for registering the rent deed there. Bablu also submitted certain documents as proof of his marriage with the woman. We are verifying all such claims,” a police officer told Chandigarh Newsline. Bablu used to work as a salesman at a shoe shop in Phase-VII, Mohali, but quit his job around five months ago.
Another accused Satish told the police that the dates when the woman alleged that he, along with his brother Sukhvir and others abducted her, he was in Mohali.
“The woman’s father and brother had assaulted my brother-in-law Tejpal in June last year. I lodged a criminal complaint against them and an FIR was registered against them on charges of assault and criminal intimidation. The FIR was registered on June 27, 2017, at Phase-XI police station, Mohali, and is pending investigation. In fact, Bablu, with whom I have been named as an accused in this gang rape FIR, was also with the woman’s father and brother when they assaulted Tejpal. All of them later surrendered to the Mohali police. They were arrested and released on bail. It is to settle their personal score with me and my brother Sukhvir that the woman has now filed this false FIR. I was in Mohali on the dates the woman has alleged that I abducted and raped her,” Satish told Chandigarh Newsline on phone. He runs a photo studio and also provides DJ system to marriage functions on rent.
Veerwati, Sukhvir’s wife, told Chandigarh Newsline that they have five children, including three daughters and two sons. “Our eldest daughter is in Class VIII. My husband can never commit such a crime,” she said. “This woman had a relationship with Bablu. In August, last year, she had approached my husband to help her elope with Bablu, but my husband refused,” she added. Sukhvir is a painter.
“After the woman went missing from home, her family members attacked Bablu’s mother and sister and injured them. Bablu’s sister lodged a criminal complaint against the woman’s family. Based on her complaint, Mohali police registered a case against seven persons, including the woman’s father, brother, mother and their accomplices. They were arrested and later granted bail. An FIR was registered at Phase-XI, Mohali police station and is pending investigation,” Satish added.
The other accused in the gang rape FIR, Arif, is a hair dresser in Amb Sahib Colony, Mohali.
DSP (South Sub-Division), Deepak Yadav said, “There is a history of clashes between families of accused and the woman. We have questioned all the four accused and are verifying the allegations. No arrests have been made yet.”