Panchkula police also detained three persons suspectedly involved in the case.
A MAZE of crowded, narrow lanes leads to the upstairs one room-set home of the 21-year-old woman who was allegedly gang-raped in Morni. Wearing a firozi-pink salwar kameez, she was all by herself. The victim and her husband, who works as a tailor, live in the rented accommodation.
Commissioner of Police (CP) Charu Bali said their endeavour was to “secure” the victim first. But there was no police security around the home or anywhere in the area. The police have arrested two men but are yet to track down any of the other alleged perpetrators.
Despite the horrific four-day ordeal that the woman has narrated in her statement before a magistrate, there was no relative or friend at the woman’s home for her support or counsel. She was all alone drying clothes on a wire. Her husband too was away.
When Chandigarh Newsline approached her, she declined to speak. “Whatever you want to know, please go to the police station and ask them [police],” she said.
“We sought help from the Chief Medical Officer to provide counselling to the victim. A counsellor had also met the victim and stayed with her for a few hours. We shall provide all medical and legal assistance to the victim, whenever she requires. We wanted to question the victim to know more about the identities of the suspects. But, because of the mental and physical trauma, she was not in a condition to talk much. We shall again talk to her, tomorrow. Meanwhile, the accused shall also be interrogated to know details about the persons who allegedly raped the woman,” the police commissioner told Chandigarh Newsline.
Panchkula police also detained three persons suspectedly involved in the case. “We are in the process of questioning the suspects. No further details can be divulged at this stage,” one of the investigating officers told Newsline.
Police sources said when the woman was taken to the guest house, Sunny, one of the accused who has been arrested, took away her mobile phone. Whenever her husband called, he told him that she was busy at work and could not speak to him.
On July 18, the fourth day of her alleged illegal confinement, the husband threatened to call the police if Sunny did not allow him to speak to his wife. The same afternoon, said police sources, Sunny put the woman on a bus from Morni to Panchkula, where her husband met her. After she told him what had happened, he called the police.
However, it remains unclear why her husband did not approach the police earlier.