5 men involved in serial gang-rapes arrested in R'than's Pratapgarh

Five members of a gang, that allegedly abducted women from highways and gang-raped them, were arrested from Pratapgarh district, police said on Wednesday.An officer said the police also recovered about half a dozen video clips of gang-rapes that the gang members filmed.The gang used to execute crimes on the highway in the dark once every 10-15 days.

Five members of a gang, that allegedly abducted women from highways and gang-raped them, were arrested from Pratapgarh district, police said on Wednesday.

An officer said the police also recovered about half a dozen video clips of gang-rapes that the gang members filmed.

"The gang used to execute crimes on the highway in the dark once every 10-15 days. It is evident from the video clips that they have been involved in serial gang-rapes," a source in the police department said.

Pratapgarh Superintendent of Police Amrita Duhan said the gang comprised eight people, mostly men in their 20s, and they were also involved in loot and abduction.

Of the five arrested, one is a juvenile, Duhan said.

"The police recovered a few video clips in which the accused are seen gang-raping several girls. One of the clips was shot during the gang-rape of a tribal girl, a case in which the police were already making efforts to identify and arrest the accused," she said.

Following a tip-off, a police team raided an abandoned house where all the eight accused were hatching a conspiracy to rob a petrol pump. While five of them were arrested, the other three managed to escape, police said. Chilli powder, iron rod, two batons, a sword, a knife, a nylon rope and two motorcycles were recovered from their possession. The arrested youths are identified as Puhskar Keer, Paliya Meena, two men named Deepak, and a juvenile.

The juvenile was placed under detention while the others were arrested, police said.

They said all the eight members of the gang have criminal backgrounds. "The accused worked as vegetable vendors and did petty jobs in Dhariawad (Pratapgarh). They used to plan gang-rapes in 10-15 days under the influence of alcohol. They used to park their bikes on the road and wait for their targets, mainly couples," the source said.

Police said on sighting couples, they attacked the man and robbed him after which they abducted the woman. They used to take the women, so abducted, to an isolated place and gang-rape them, and then leave them near a village so they she could return.

"They used to capture the crime in mobile phones and threaten the victims of circulating the clips on social media in case they reported the matter to the police," the source said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)