Kin among 4 held in Rudrapur gangrape case

Rudrapur: Four people, including the 19-year-old brother-in-law of a married woman, were arrested in connection with the alleged gangrape of the woman in Rudrapur on Feb 22 night, police said. One of the accused, a 23-year-old man, had attempted suicide by consuming poison before being taken into custody.The survivor's brother-in-law allegedly did not intervene while his acquaintances sexually abused the woman. Acting on intelligence inputs, police first arrested three accused, aged 19 to 28, near Rudrapur district hospital late Wednesday night and seized the motorcycle used in the crime.Meanwhile, the fourth accused consumed poison and was found in a critical condition at Nagina railway station in Uttar Pradesh's Dhampur district. He was handed over by the GRP to Udham Singh Nagar police and was admitted to the district hospital. Police said the alleged sexual assault happened around 9 pm when the woman, in her late 20s, was returning home from a fair with her brother-in-law. Three of his acquaintances allegedly intercepted them on two motorcycles, threatened them at gunpoint and took the woman to a secluded spot and took turns to rape her.They also video-recorded the assault. One of the accused allegedly injured her finger with a knife and later threatened to kill her and make the video public if she reported the incident. The survivor lodged a complaint at Rudrapur police station on Tuesday, leading to the registration of a case under relevant provisions of the BNS. Sections 3(5) and 115(2) were later added to address common intention and failure to prevent the offence.SSP Ajay Ganpati said special teams were formed to analyse CCTV footage, collect forensic evidence and conduct targeted raids. "Our investigation indicates that the survivor's brother-in-law enabled his friends to commit the crime. There will be zero tolerance for crimes against women," he said.