Hangal moral policing victim now alleges gangrape by attackers

HAVERI: A day after the moral policing incident in Hangal came to light, another video is doing the rounds on social media where the woman can be seen being held captive in a car by the attackers.

A man and a woman of different communities were assaulted in a hotel room in Hangal town recently by a group of youths in an alleged case of moral policing. The youths belonged to the same community as the woman. They dragged her out and assaulted her in a desolate area.

On Thursday, the woman and her husband claimed that she was gangraped by 6-7 of the youths. The woman claimed that she was first taken in a motorcycle from the hotel and then in car and raped by turns by the attackers. “They later dumped me by the roadside and put me on a bus bound for Sirsi”, she claimed. She identified one of the attackers as Aftab and sought justice.

Her husband too said she was kidnapped and gangraped. He said his wife revealed about the gangrape to his sister, who then informed him. He also claimed the presence of a video of the gangrape.

Meanwhile, Police Superintendent Anshu Kumar said the woman had made no mention of gangrape when she recorded her statement under Section 161 on Wednesday. “She has given a written statement and a medical test was also done. Till yesterday, there was no allegation of rape”, he said.

The SP said the woman’s statement will be video-recorded in the presence of a magistrate under Section 164. “Based on that, we will add additional sections to the case. If she lodges and FIR, we will investigate that too. So far, we have arrested three people and we have information that about 6-7 people were involved. We are on the lookout for them”, he added.