MP’s survivor helped catch men behind multiple rapes | Latest news from India

On May 13, the 21-year-old tribal woman, who is in the first year of her Bachelor of Arts degree at a government college in Madhya Pradesh, travelled from her village in Singrauli district to Sidhi in the hope of getting a scholarship. A few hours later, she was allegedly raped five times in the evening in an empty house without electricity, assaulted and warned not to talk about it. Yet four days later, she found the courage to tell her family and the Madhya Pradesh police the gruesome version of events, uncovering a pattern used on at least six other women. Investigators are now searching for more victims. On May 23, Sidhi police arrested 30-year-old Brajesh Prajapati, the main accused, and three other accomplices – Sandeep Prajapati, Luvkush Prajapati and Rahul Prajapati – under sections 376 2(n) (rape by impersonation), 342 (punishment for deprivation of liberty), 394 (intentionally causing hurt in commission of robbery), 366 (kidnapping), 294 (use of obscene language), 323 (intentionally causing hurt) and 120 b (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Police officials said they have so far identified seven victims, five of whom have lodged complaints at Majhauli police station in Sidhi. “But apart from her, the others have not shared their experiences with their families or the police due to social stigma. But after the victim from Singrauli lodged a complaint, four more followed suit and lodged complaints. A perusal of the call records of the accused shows the numbers of 20 women and they are also being contacted by the police,” said Ravindra Verma, superintendent of police, Sidhi.

In her statement to police, the 21-year-old said she received a call at 4 pm on May 13 from a woman who said she was from my college and asked if she had received her ‘scholarship’. When the victim replied in the negative, she was told to immediately go to Tikri using her Aadhaar card. “I reached Tikri around 6 pm and the woman told me to come to a secondary school where her son would pick her up. There I met a person on a black motorcycle wearing a helmet and black gloves. He told me to come along and identified himself as Archana Madam’s son,” she told police.

The victim was then allegedly taken to a vacant house near a forest on Gijwar Road that had no electricity, dragged inside and raped five times until midnight. She said when she asked him to stop, she was attacked, her mobile phone was stolen and she was threatened with death. “He threatened me with dire consequences and said I would be defamed. He then took me to a remote place and left me on the street,” the victim told police.

In pain and alone, the victim then allegedly sought help at a nearby house, whose owner told her she was in the village of Barseni, 15 kilometers from her own village. “I called my father from her phone and told him I was a victim of a robbery and stayed there that night. The next morning I got on a bus and went home,” she told police.

Two days later, on May 16, she gathered her courage and told her family what had happened to her. On May 17, she filed a complaint at the Majhauli police station. This complaint sparked a police investigation that brought to light several victims who were allegedly raped over a period of three months. All of them were lured to the same location using a voice application that simulated a woman’s call.

Superintendent of Police Verma said, “The woman not only helped us in solving the crime but also in identifying the accused. We took the investigation seriously and initially suspected that a woman was involved but after the accused’s mobile phones were seized, we found that he had used a voice application. He called many women but 20 were contacted repeatedly. We are checking if there are more people involved but the accomplices have chosen targets and sold the stolen mobile phones.”