Driver, friend rape homeless woman inside ambulance in Jaipur

JAIPUR: A 24-year-old homeless woman was raped in an ambulance by the vehicle driver and his friend late Monday night. A case was lodged on Wednesday at the city’s Moti Doongri police station. The accused have been identified as driver Surendra Yogi of Dausa and his friend Mahendra Singh from Kanota in Jaipur.
Police said the rape survivor has been living with her husband on the footpath for the last few years. The two have been selling vegetables and salads on a cart outside the SMS Hospital on JLN Marg. Yogi who frequently comes to the hospital with patients and parks his ambulance outside was aware of the movement of the rape survivor in the same area.
Since the lockdown, the woman was not regularly selling vegetables and had been begging for food and money. Taking advantage of the situation on Monday, Yogi asked the victim to come with him for free food in his ambulance at 11pm. “Since she had seen him standing with his ambulance almost every day, she didn't suspect anything and got into the vehicle.
The driver picked up his friend Mahendra from Trimurti Circle and they both took her to an isolated place at Jhalana Circle. Here they raped her,” said the police. Later, they dumped her on the footpath near Jhalana. The family was scared to go to the police and kept quiet for two days. However, a hospital staff gave them assurance and prompted them to file a complaint with the police.
“Both the accused have been identified by the victim. The main accused has not turned up at the hospital since the incident. We are searching for both. They will soon be caught and put behind bars,” said SHO Surendra Pancholi, Moti Doongri police station. Police have collected CCTV footage from the area and confirmed their identity
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)