Seven held, 5 jailed for gang rape in Jharkhand's Sahibganj

DUMKA: Seven persons of a tribal community accused in the gang rape of a 19-year-old married tribal woman in Sahibganj district were arrested on Saturday, police said. The incident took place when the woman along with her husband was returning to her parents home from a village fair on Thursday night.
The husband told police that they were waylaid by miscreants and he was thrashed. He escaped and reached his in-laws home. When he returned to the spot with others, his wife was taken away place by the miscreants. All attempts to trace the woman turned futile. The victim reached home after midnight, police said.
The village panchayat ur- ged the rape survivor’s fa- mily members not to approach the police and settle the matter at the panchayat, the husband further alleged. “We lodged an FIR late Friday eve- ning when my wife was taken to the local community health centre from where she was re- ferred to a hospital,” he added.
Sahibganj superintendent of police (SP) Anuranjan Ki- spotta constituted an SIT to nab the miscreants. “All the se- ven accused persons, including two minors, have confessed to the crime during interroga- tion,” SP Kispotta told the TOI, adding that the victim was stable. “Five out of the seven have been jailed, while the age of the two suspected minors was be- ing ascertained for taking furt- her legal action against them,” the SP added.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)