Hisar college student, abducted, sexually assaulted in autorickshaw

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According to news reports, an autorickshaw driver and his male relative allegedly kidnapped a college student who had hailed the vehicle in Haryana’s Hisar, on Wednesday. The men are alleged to have attempted to rape the young woman, when they were reportedly spotted and chased by two policemen. According to news reports, the two accused have been taken into custody.

The police spokesperson told the media that the two accused were identified as Vinod, a resident of Shiv Nagar located at Mill Gate in Hisar, and his cousin Naveen, a resident of Bhani Amirpur village in Hisar. They were booked under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354(a)(1) (physical contact), 367 (abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt, slavery etc.), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The college student was abducted and sexually assaulted while the accused kept the autorickshaw running on the Delhi bypass in Hisar town. News18 Hindi reported that a police team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bharti Dabas arrested the men during the patrolling in the area. The two accused were produced in court and sent to judicial custody.

It was reported that two policemen became suspicious when they spotted the two men in the autorickshaw with the young woman. One of them was driving the auto. According to a news report, it was during the initial interrogation, that the police came to know that the youths had abducted the young woman and one of them was trying to sexually assault her. The survivor complained to the police and reportedly told them that the accused had threatened to kill her after abducting her from near the college.

The state it seems still does not have a zero tolerance policy against sexual harassment, stalking and crimes against women. However the last time a college student was attacked, and killed, the political leaders got busy playing hate politics and fueling ‘love jihad’ rumours. The murder of 21-year-old Nitika Tomar in Faridabad in Octobr 2020, had shocked the nation. She was shot dead by a man whose sexual harassment she had been resisting for a long time. The accused identified as Tausif, and Rehan, were arrested, but cries of ‘love jihad’ and #KshatriyaLivesMatter were raised along demands for their execution via a ‘police encounter’. Nitika Tomar was shot dead outside her college in Ballabgarh in Haryana’s Faridabad. The CCTV clip showed how the accused tried to grab Tomar who tried her best to save herself. When she resisted and foiled the abduction attempt, one of the accused pulled out a revolver and shot her dead at point blank range. According to news reports, the victim’s family claimed that Tomar was attacked outside her college by a man who was stalking her, and they had even filed a complaint with Haryana Police, against the main accused accusing him of kidnapping in 2018. However that issue ‘was settled’ later.

Anil Vij, the state’s Home Minister stated in November 2020, that a committee will be constituted to draft a law against love jihad. He had stated that this ‘love jihad’ was a disease and “… it is necessary to cure it, so we can save young girls.”