The Hindu : 'BSF men raped girl at gunpoint'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 21, 2002

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'BSF men raped girl at gunpoint'

By Shujaat Bhukari

SRINAGAR APRIL 20. Three Border Security Force (BSF) personnel attached to the 58th battalion in Pahalgam have been arrested on the charge of raping a teenaged girl in Kullar village of Anantnag district.

The accused, Head constables Kishan Kumar and Nathu Ram and constable Murmu, were identified by the 17-year-old victim, when 24 BSF men were paraded before her.

The Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, B.A. Runyal, who supervised the identification parade, told The Hindu that the police had registered an FIR and the three had been handed over to the BSF for court martial.

Confirming this, a BSF spokesman said all the three had been placed under suspension and further investigations were on.

The accused had gang-raped the girl at gunpoint in the presence of her sister and other relatives on Thursday morning. One of her relatives said, "All of us were mute spectators to this heinous crime as they threatened to open fire if we tried to rescue her.'' The girl also received injuries as she was hit on her stomach and face.

Only when the locals organised protests against the crime did the police reach the village. They took the girl to a hospital in Anantnag where doctors confirmed that she had been gang-raped.

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'BSF men raped girl at gunpoint'