4 labourers booked for raping 42-yr-old Bihar woman in Ludhiana

Police have booked six factory workers for raping their 42-year-old colleague at knifepoint in Ladhowal.

Police said the accused, Raju, Balram, Rahul and Pramod, all workers of Dolphin factory in Gaunspur, and their two unidentified accomplices, had also videotaped her and threatened to kill her husband if she made a complaint.

The victim, a Dalit woman, said she and her husband had come to Ludhiana in September last year and got a job in the factory. She said her husband had returned to their native in Bihar in February this year.

She said on March 31, she had availed half-day leave following ill-health, but on her way back to her rented accommodation, the accused intercepted her, dragged her to an isolated place and raped her at knifepoint by tying her hands with her sari. However, she managed to set herself free, grabbed the knife and threatened to kill herself, following which the accused fled the spot.

She said she had returned to Bihar on April 9, and told the factory owner about the incident, before lodging a complaint with the Bihar police.

The FIR, registered under Sections 376-D and 354-C of the IPC and the SC ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, was sent to the Ludhiana police.

Ladhowal SHO sub-inspector Balwinder Singh said they had approached the complainant for recording her statement, but she had been ignoring their calls.