Rohtak Dalit girl gangrape: Victim yet to record statement, 3 accused ready for lie-detection test

Even as doctors have described her medically fit, the Rohtak rape ‘victim’ has so far not given her statement to the magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC).

On the other hand, the counsel of the three accused arrested by the police on Tuesday has filed a petition in the court, expressing their willingness to undergo polygraph test (lie-detection test). “The accused are ready to undergo polygraph and narco tests. We demand that the girl and her family be made to undergo these tests as well,” accused’s counsel Manoj Kumar said.

The 21-year-old Dalit girl has alleged that she was choked, drugged and raped by five men for the second time in Rohtak on July 13. In her statement submitted to the police, the girl claimed she was abducted soon after she left her college at around 1.30 pm while she was walking towards home.

However, police sources told HT that the girl was not seen exiting her college between 1 pm to 3 pm in the footage of CCTV cameras installed there.

The police said it was collecting the CCTV footage from various parts of the city, including the Sukhpura Chowk area where the girl claimed she was thrown off by her alleged rapists, to verify her claim.

Meanwhile, the three accused arrested by the police have submitted CCTV footage, wherein they are purportedly seen in Bhiwani and Ambala around the alleged time of the incident.

A special investigating team (SIT) was formed by Haryana additional director general of police (ADGP) Muhammad Akil on Wednesday to probe the case. The three arrested were remanded in police custody for four days by the court on Wednesday. The ADGP said they will match the DNA samples of the accused with the forensic evidence.

Citing “mental unstableness and depression”, the girl turned back the magistrate a couple of times without giving her statement. However, she has given her statement to the Haryana State Women’s Commission.

Police claimed that in 2013, the girl changed her statement submitted to the magistrate after a few days.

1 ACCUSED UNTRACED FOR THREE YEARS

Meanwhile, Akash, one of the accused in the gangrape case, has remained untraced for the past three years — ever since he was accused to have raped the victim in 2013. Except that his name was mentioned by the girl in her statement, police have no clues about him or his whereabouts.