Armed men thrash trainee army officers, rape their female friend in Madhya Pradesh

Deputy IG Nimish Agrawal said they cannot underplay the incident and have filed a case on the complaint of one of the trainee officers under BNS Section 70 (gang-rape)

Eight men armed with pistols, knives, and sticks thrashed two trainees at Mhow’s Army War College, allegedly raped one of the two female friends accompanying them, and looted their money after surrounding their car parked at a firing range near Chhoti Jam in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district early on Wednesday, two police officer said on Thursday.

Investigators said they have arrested two of the accused and formed 10 teams to nab six others. (Getty Images)

Additional police superintendent Rupesh Dwivedi said one of the two women told them she was not raped after gaining consciousness late on Wednesday even as media reports suggested she was gang-raped. “The accused kept the woman and a 23-year-old trainee army officer separately. The woman said she was thrashed but not raped,” said Dwivedi.

Deputy inspector general Nimish Agrawal said they cannot underplay the incident and have filed a case on the complaint of one of the trainee officers under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’s Section 70 (gang-rape), 310-2 (dacoity), 307-2 (extortion) and 115-2 (voluntarily causing hurt) and under the Arms Act as the accused carried illegal arms. “The statement of [the] woman [allegedly gang-raped] will be registered on Thursday.”

Investigators said they have arrested two of the accused and formed 10 teams to nab six others. They added the two trainee army officers at Mhow Army College had hired a car for a walk with their two female friends. Investigators said the eight men surrounded the car from all sides at the firing range.

Agrawal said the attackers thrashed both the trainee army officers and the women and looted their money. “The attackers held one officer and one of his female friends hostage and sent the other woman and the officer to get ₹10 lakh. The officer rushed to his unit and informed the commanding officer, who informed the police.” He said the accused fled the spot when the police arrived there.