Police arrest three tourists from Madhya Pradesh, who stripped, photographed and gangraped girl in front of boyfriend in Goa

By
JKR Staff
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Police have arrested all three tourists from Madhya Pradesh, who stripped, photographed and gang-raped a woman in front of her boyfriend on a beach in South Goa district.

The incident, according to news agency PTI, happened at the Sernabhatim beach, 50 km from the state capital Panaji on Thursday night.

Photo- ANI

The news agency quoted a senior police officer as saying that the accused, who was yet to be identified, accosted the couple on the beach. He said, “They stripped the couple, clicked their photographs and demanded money.”

Later, the three men gang-raped the woman, who is in her 20s, in front of her boyfriend, the official said.

South Goa Superintendent of Police Arvind Gawas told PTI that the woman had been sent for medical examination, and reports are awaited. Police were questioning several suspects but no arrest has been made yet, Gawas said.

The three accused–tourists from Indore — have been charged with robbing and gangraping a 20-year-old girl late on Friday, while she was visiting Colva beach along with her 22-year-old boyfriend.

“We have arrested Sanjiv Dhananjay Pal, 23, and Ram Santosh Bhariya, 19, both from Indore. We have teams on the lookout for the third accused who is also from the same city. They are tourists who were visiting Goa,” Superintendent of Police (South Goa) Arvind Gawas told IANS on Saturday.

However, new agency ANI later flashed the masked photos of all three alleged rapists being paraded before the media.

The victim, who hails from a nearby village, had also claimed that the sexual assault was filmed by the alleged rapists and she was blackmailed by them against informing the police.

Police have said that medical examination of the victim has confirmed rape.

An FIR was filed late on Friday at the Colva police station under sections 376 (rape) and 394 (robbery) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to media reports, 37 rapes were registered at 12 police stations in South Goa during 2017. Of them, the victim was a minor in 26 cases and in seven cases the victim was a child below the age of 10 and in one case registered at Ponda two males raped a 15-year-old girl thrice.

A report by Navhind Times in June said that as many as 15 rape cases were reported in South Goa in the first five months of 2018.