In an alarming incident shedding light on a case of sexual assault, a woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad district was reportedly raped, targeted for her Hindu identity. The accused, Junaid, and four others were apprehended by the police following an encounter on December 2. One of the arrested individuals is said to have connections to the couple the victim was with, prompting an ongoing investigation into their potential involvement.
The victim, a 23-year-old woman from Delhi, filed a First Information Report (FIR number 682/2023) at the Tronica City police station in Ghaziabad on November 30. According to her account, she, along with a female colleague and her boyfriend, who were Muslims, ventured to a secluded area in Ghaziabad for the purpose of learning how to ride a newly acquired scooter.
While in that location, three unidentified individuals approached them and allegedly gang-raped the Hindu woman in a coordinated manner. The victim described the traumatic experience, stating, “They ran towards me and caught me before I could understand anything. When I tried to resist and raise an alarm, they took me behind the bushes. The three took turns to rape me. I shouted, but no one came to my rescue.”
Shockingly, the woman’s boyfriend and her colleague, who were present during the entire incident, offered no resistance or assistance. Acting on the victim’s account, the police charged all three suspects with rape and initiated legal proceedings against them.
The victim underwent a detailed medical examination, and during the investigation, she identified one of the accused who had a connection to her friend’s boyfriend. Subsequently, the police launched a search and successfully apprehended all three accused.
Junaid, a resident of Khanpur, resisted arrest and fired at a police team near a forest area in his village. In the ensuing confrontation, he sustained a gunshot wound to the leg. Meanwhile, the couple, who were out for a ride, left their Hindu colleague to wait by a deserted road, seemingly unaware of the unfolding events.
The accused first confronted the couple on the scooter, accusing them of being too intimate by the road, and assaulted them. Upon discovering that the couple belonged to the Islamic faith, the attackers redirected their attention to the other woman, who was Hindu and waiting nearby.
The assailants fled the scene upon spotting an approaching car. The victim, along with her friends, returned home and recounted the ordeal to her parents. Police sources reveal that there were five men in the group, with three committing the rape while the other two overpowered the victim’s friends and kept watch on the road.
DCP (rural) Vivek Yadav reported that the police filed an FIR under Section 376D (gang rape) of the IPC and began scrutinizing CCTV footage to identify the accused. Acting on a tip-off, the police team located Junaid in a forested area, leading to the encounter in which he was injured and subsequently hospitalized. The press note released by Ghaziabad police on December 4 confirmed the arrest of another accused, Imran, after a similar encounter, and the prime accused, Junaid, was arrested the day before, with the recovery of a firearm.
In addition to Junaid and Imran, three other individuals – Chand alias Tausif, Golu alias Harsh, and Kale alias Sultan – were also arrested in connection with the case.
