Source – hindustantimes.com
The main accused in the gang-rape case in the state capital on Monday, Vinayak Singh, surrendered before the court on Wednesday. With this, three of the four accused have either been arrested or surrendered before the police.
On January 6, four men had abducted the girl, a BBA student, at gun point and gang-raped her at a vacant flat situated behind a prominent mall in Patna.
The woman was forced to get inside a vehicle at gun point by the accused when she came out of a restaurant at around 6.30 pm (on Monday) under SK Puri police station limits.
She alleged in her FIR that they took her to a vacant flat at an unknown place and repeatedly raped her.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Patna, Upendra Sharma, said the accused Vinayak Singh surrendered before the court due to mounting police pressure.
“The police raided different places to arrest the fourth accused, Sandip Mukhiya,” he added.
Police said they had earlier raided the house of Singh in Hajipur, but could not find him. The police also raided various places in Patna, he added.
Police said as Singh‘s uncle came to know about the incident, he assured the police that he would ensure surrender of his nephew. Singh, however, surrendered to the court, police added.
Police had first arrested Kush. On the basis of Kush’s statement, police arrested Vikas, the second accused.
The girl had lodged a case with the women police station against the four people.
Police officials had said on Tuesday that one of the accused was trying to force the woman into a relationship and was stalking her. The station house officer of the women’s police station, Arti Jaiswal, said preliminary investigation suggested the woman knew the accused.
A case was registered under Sections 376 D (gang-rape), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act, Jaiswal said.
A medical examination of the woman has been conducted and the report is awaited.
This is the second incident of gang-rape in the state capital within a month. On December 13, a Patna University student was allegedly gang-raped by four men.
Two of the accused, including a friend of the woman, surrendered in the court, while two others were arrested from separate places. Taking serious view of the Patna gang-rape in which a student was kidnapped from a mall in the state capital, HAM-S leader Jitan Ram Manjhi said law and order situation has deteriorated in Bihar.
The Congress also pulled up the state government for failure to control crime. Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) chief Madan Mohan Jha on Wednesday said Patna had turned into the crime capital of the country.