X

Case of ‘Pathalgarhi’ in Jharkhand? Anti-Human Trafficking Activists Raped At Gunpoint

The abductors reportedly made a video of the attack and threatened the girl that it would be revealed if they report the incident to anyone

Five women fighting against human trafficking were allegedly sexually assaulted by five men at gunpoint in Kunthi district of Jharkhand on Tuesday. The women were part of a non-profit organisation that had taken an 11 member team to Kochang for an awareness programme when the armed men reached the venue.

“The survivors, engaged with an NGO supported by Christian missionary, were abducted by motorcycle-borne armed men while they were performing a street play at RC Mission School in Khunti’s Kochang block, about 90 km from Ranchi, on Tuesday afternoon. They were forced to sit inside cars, taken to a nearby secluded place and raped,” Ranchi range deputy inspector general (DIG) AV Homkar told Hindustan Times.

 

Two women were allegedly attacked for opposing sexual harassment by three men in Muzaffar Nagar district in U.P, the police said on Friday. Source: The Indian Express.

The HT report says that the abductors reportedly made a video of the attack and threatened the girl that it would be revealed if they report the incident to anyone. According to the police, the crime was not reported by the victims and it was brought to light by anonymous sources.

The NGO was apparently conducting an awareness programme regarding migration and human trafficking at the school when the armed men reached the venue.

Upon investigation, the police have found that the people behind the attack are people behind ‘Pathalgarhi’. Pathalgarhi is the practice where tribal villagers erect stone slabs at their borders to ban visitors from entering or settling in their village.

Eight people identified by the police in connection with the crime have been detained.

In another episode of violence, two women were allegedly attacked for opposing sexual harassment by three men in Muzaffarnagar district in UP, the police said on Friday.

According to the complaint filed by the father of the girls, his daughters along with some other family members were also allegedly beaten up by the men after they opposed sexual harassment.

The injured were admitted to the police and a case has been registered against the two men and the main accused in the case has been arrested, the police said.

(Written by Shreya Bansal)