08 September,2016 08:05 AM IST | | Vijay Kumar Yadav
After mid-day's report about three RPF personnel raping a 23-year-old woman inside the RPF chowky in January and then torturing her for months, the Thane GRP on Thursday registered an FIR against accused
After a mid-day report on Wednesday on how four of its personnel raped a 23-year-old in a Diva chowky, the RPF top brass on Thursday suspended three of them. One accused has not been identified by RPF yet.
The GRP also acted on mid-day's report and on Thursday registered an FIR (mid-day has a copy) in the matter.
RPF hawaldars PK Singh and BK Singh, and constable Mahendra Singh Bhagel, were suspended on Thursday.
Senior Divisional Security Commissioner (Mumbai), Sachin Bhalode told mid-day, "Apart from suspending them, a preliminary enquiry has also been initiated against them."
RPF is yet to determine the identify of Deepak Rathod, another accused. All the four accused have been booked by Thane GRP under Sections 376 (2) C (sexual intercourse by person in authority), 376D (gangrape), 328 (Causing hurt by means of poison) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code. As the Diva RPF chowky falls under the jurisdiction of Mumbra police, GRP transferred the case to Mumbra police.
Read Story: Thane Crime: Woman gang-raped inside RPF chowky in Diva
As per FIR, the woman was victimised in January this year. But as the RPF men allegedly continued to torture her for months after that, threatening to defame her if she complained about them, she finally mustered the courage to approach the police last month.
What happened
On January 14 at around 10 pm, the woman got a call from constable Bhagel. She had met Bhagel before. She had also met Rathod through PK Singh, whom she had met while looking for a job in Mumbai.
The woman said, "I ignored Bhagel's call, but between 10 pm and 2 am, he had called 25 times. When I finally picked up the call, he told me that PK Singh had met with an accident and told me to come to the RPF chowky. I rushed there, only to find PK Singh completely fine," she said.
She further stated that inside the chowky, she saw PK Singh and his colleagues watching porn and drinking liquor.
"They gave me a soft drink while I waited. Later, PK Singh told me to go along with him. He said he wanted to show me something. He then took me to the room of a senior officer. He pushed me inside the room and locked the door. I shouted for him to open the door. I had also started feeling dizzy. I got even more scared when I saw that Rathod was inside the room," she said. After this Rathod and then PK Singh allegedly raped her. After raping her, PK Singh allegedly threatened to get her arrested in a fake case.
Medical examination
After the FIR the survivor was sent to Thane City Civil hospital for medical examinations. She was admitted to the hospital for 12 hours. Frustrated over repeated questioning, she broke down on various instances. A senior doctor at the hospital said that the medical tests are mandatory and would strengthen the case and are for her benefit.
