A 14-year-old girl was allegedly gang raped by two army jawans on the Howrah-Amritsar Express on Sunday, The Times of India reported. The incident took place in a coach reserved for military personnel in the train. The girl had run away from her home in Dum Dum in Kolkata on Sunday.
The girl was rescued later in the day at the Madhupur station in Jharkhand in a joint operation by Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP). A medical examination of the girl confirmed rape.
The girl identified the men from the CCTV footage of the train recorded at a station. While the police could not find the alleged rapists, they arrested a third jawan called Manjrish Tripathi after the girl said that he had forced her to drink alcohol, following which the other two jawans allegedly sexually assaulted her, the report states.
"The military coach was locked from inside. After a bi of struggle, the RPF and GRP men were able to gain access The girl was found inside She wasn't fully conscious and was being fed by Tri pathi. Women constables helped the girl to the GRP sta tion and Tripathi was arrested," an RPF officer from the Asansol division told TOI.
The other two jawans are on the run, but police feel it will not be too difficult identify them.
Asim Vikrant Minj, Dhanbad superintendent of railway police, told TOI, "Prima facie, it seems the allegations are correct. We have identified the two accused and interrogation of he arrested person is likely o provide further leads. It seems the crime occurred soon after the train left Howrah."