Woman dragged out of office, kidnapped and raped; one held

Chandigarh, Apr 23: Nearly a month after a Dalit woman was dragged, abducted and allegedly raped in Muktsar district of Punjab, the accused youth surrendered before a court in the district.

The accused was caught abducting the woman on a CCTV camera installed in a nearby shop in Malout in Muktsar.

Muktsar's SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill said today that the accused youth surrendered before a court in Muktsar and has been remanded to police custody for three days.

The woman, a Dalit, was dragged by the youth from a computer centre in Malout in Muktsar. The CCTV footage showed the accused forcibly dragging the woman, said to be in her early 20s, out of her office in broad daylight on March 25.

The woman is seen struggling to break free from her alleged abductor, identified as Gurinder, aged around 25.

After abducting her, the accused took her to Tapa Khera village in Muktsar district and allegedly raped her.

The SSP said that about five days after the incident, the woman had got an FIR registered in the case after which the police were on a lookout for the accused.

A case had been registered against the accused under various provisions of the law including for abduction and rape against the accused, he said.

Both the accused, who is into farming, and the victim hail from same village in Muktsar district.

"He surrendered before a court at Muktsar yesterday and subsequently we took him on remand," Gill told PTI over phone today. Gill said the car in which the accused had abucted the victim was yet to be recovered.

Gill said the prime accused belonged to village Khandu Khera. However, his accomplice is still absconding, the SSP said.

Meanwhile, the Scheduled Caste Commission has taken note of the incident and asked the SSP to file a report on the matter in the next 15 days.