Married woman gang-raped near Bhopal railway station; 4 held

A 20-year-old married woman was allegedly raped by four sanitation workers near the railway station here in Madhya Pradesh, police said on Thursday night. The shocking incident took place on the intervening night of Wednesday-Thursday and all the accused have been arrested, they said.

The accused - Dharmendra Rai (45), Vikram Karosia (32), Rajesh Khare (40) and Rakesh Karosia (40) - were arrested on Thursday and charged with gang-rape, a Government Railway Police (GRP) release said. They all are sanitation workers hired through a private agency to work on platforms and station premises, the GRP said.

Among them, Rai is a supervisor, the police said. The woman along with her niece had ventured out of her house around 11.30 pm on Wednesday to watch a tableau of Goddess Durga heading for immersion, the release said.

When she went to answer nature's call late in the night at a deserted place near platform number 6, the four accused allegedly raped her, the release said. Based on statements given by the victim's niece, who heard the accused addressing each other by name, the GRP zeroed in on them, it added.

The victim's husband is accused in a murder case and is absconding, the GRP said..