'Shoot accused or...me': Army officer's rape victim friend told police
The woman who was allegedly gangraped while on a picnic with two junior Indian Army officers and another woman in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, told a senior officer to either "shoot the accused or shoot me." According to the Indian Express, the attackers roamed the area on motorcycles looking for potential robbery victims. The Madhya Pradesh said they have arrested three of the six persons who allegedly assaulted the Indian Army officers and raped their woman friend.
Victim refuses to record statement
Investigators said the assailants also threatened to kill the victims if they did not pay them ₹10 lakh. The complaint lodged by one of the Army officers stated, "They misbehaved with the woman, and I suspect something wrong was done to her." "But the woman has refused to record her statement. We have invoked sections of rape at the moment, but it will only come into effect if the woman says so," additional superintendent of police Rupesh Dwivedi told ThePrint.
Three suspects arrested, search continues for remaining accused
A senior officer told IE, "She only keeps telling us one thing - shoot the accused or shoot me. We understand she is in shock. We are trying our best to arrest the men who did this." Indore Rural Superintendent of Police Hitika Vasal confirmed the arrest of three suspects - Anil, Pawan, and Ritesh. Ritesh was previously acquitted in a 2019 murder case. Vasal stated, "She is not comfortable registering her statement. We will wait until she recovers."
Details of the attack and assailants emerge
According to the FIR, the victims were at an isolated spot near the Army's firing range around 2:30am when they were attacked by "seven to eight unknown individuals" with sticks and rods. The assailants demanded ₹10 lakh, threatening to kill them otherwise. The FIR also noted that one of the attackers had a pistol, all had their faces uncovered, and they appeared to be between 20 and 35 years old.
Suspects remanded to police custody, investigation continues
State prosecutor Mahendra Singh Munjalde confirmed that both Anil and Pawan have been remanded to five-day police custody. This decision was made in an effort to trace the victim's stolen purse. The third suspect, Ritesh, is set to be produced in court on Friday. The two Army officers, aged 23 and 24, are undergoing the Young Officers course at Infantry School, Mhow.
