Physically challenged woman raped, accused arrested

Hoshiarpur (Punjab): A physically challenged woman was allegedly repeatedly raped by a man for the past five months here, officials said on Saturday. The local team of Sakhi-One Stop Center (OSC) rescued the 26-year-old woman allegedly being raped by the man and also got the accused arrested by the police, they said. The OSC scheme was launched by the government in 2015-16 to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by any kind of violence, both in private and public sphere. Under this scheme, one stop centres have been made operational in each district of Punjab.

Giving details about the case, the administrator of SOSC-cum-Child Development Project Officer, Hoshiarpur-I, Madhu Bala said she received a telephone call on March 7 from a person stating that he found a physically challenged woman at Jalandhar bus stand and took her to Hoshiarpur. Bala said she got suspicious from the conversation with the man, and she, along with the team of OSC, reached the address mentioned and found that the man was allegedly beating the woman who was lying unconscious.

Bala immediately sought the help of the district administration and Hoshiarpur Deputy Commissioner Komal Mittal instructed to take action against the accused. The victim woman was admitted to the local Civil Hospital, Bala said in a statement on Friday evening. During preliminary investigation, it emerged that the accused had allegedly been raping the victim for the last five months on the pretext of marrying her, she said. As the woman insisted the accused should marry her, he was preparing to leave her helpless on the road, she added.

The victim was unable to walk and could not even eat by herself. It further came to the fore that the accused is already married and has two children, said Bala. Hoshiarpur Deputy Superintendent of Police (City) Palwinder Singh said the accused was arrested and charged with rape. He was also booked under other relevant provisions of the law. Further investigation in the case is underway, the police officer added.