Guwahati: Mother, Daughter Gang-Raped By 8 At Satgaon

A shocking incident of gang-rape has come to the fore where as many as eight assailants broke into the house of an aged woman and sexually assaulted and abused her along with her daughter.

Although the incident took place earlier, it only came to the fore on Tuesday. The daughter is reportedly differently-abled, in that, she cannot speak. Not content with the heinous act, the assailants reportedly went on to smear chilli powder on the private parts of both mother and daughter.

According to reports, the incident took place in Guwahati’s Satgaon locality on May 17. However, the incident did not come to the fore immediately with the police reportedly trying to cover up the matter. It has come to the fore that the police threatened the victims and the neighbours and told them to not talk to media persons about the incident.

Meanwhile, four of the accused have been arrested and imprisoned as four others remain absconding with the police hot on their trails.

According to information received the daughter, aged 22 years, and had been living with her mother in at her residence in Taltala in Guwahati’s Satgaon after her marriage fell apart. During that time, a man named Arun Pradhan alias Loote Pradhan, aged 55, tried to entice the mother into a romantic relationship. However, this relationship was not accepted by the family of Pradhan which led to strife between both families.

When the disagreement reached its peak, the son of Arun Pradhan, Amit Pradhan along with seven others broke into the house of the victims and carried on with their heinous act. They took their crimes to another level by smearing chilli powder on their private parts. The mother and the daughter were left without their senses after the act.

After learning about the incident, the neighbours lodged a complaint at the Satgaon Police Station. The police reached the scene and recovered both victims in a senseless state and rushed them to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in a critical condition. With emergency healthcare, the hospital authorities managed to save the lives of the two.

On the other hand, Satgaon Police registered a case numbered 92/23 with charges under sections 456, 294, 354 and 354 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and initiated an investigation into the matter. It is worth mentioning that they police initially did not register charges of rape in their case. Priliminary investigations led the police to prime accused Amit Pradhan, Bimal Chetry, Chhaya Pradhan and Sandhiya Sonar, who were imprisoned.

In the meantime, with the aim of getting his son and the other accused out of jail, Arun Pradhan married the woman. Right after marriage, he tactfully got the mother to sign a letter to the officer in-charge of Satgaon Police Station to lift all charges against the accused.

However, the police did not heed to the letter as the matter was a case of gang-rape. Meanwhile, the matter only came to the fore after the medical report from GMCH confirmed rape which led to the police adding charges of IPC Section 376 to the case.

Moreover, fretting that the mother will go to the media, the police reportedly always kept brought them to the police station without sufficient reason, mentioned some of the neighbours.

Also Read: Assam: Girl Raped and Murdered; Suspect Apprehended