Five NGO workers gang-raped at gunpoint in Jharkhand: National Commission for Women to investigate incident

Five women working with an NGO were allegedly raped at gunpoint on Tuesday by a group of at least five men when they had gone to Chochang village in Jharkhand to spread awareness on migration and human trafficking, the police said on Wednesday. The National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to the Jharkhand Director General of Police (DGP) DK Pandey directing him to inform NCW about details of official action taken with regards to the gang-rape of activists in Khunti. The NCW has also formed a three-member team to probe the case and submit recommendations, reported ANI. [caption id=“attachment_4569541” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Initial investigation has found that the people behind ‘Pathalgarhi’ (a practice in which villagers inscribe various tenets on huge stone slabs and ban outsiders in their area), are behind the incident in the district on Tuesday, deputy Inspector General of Police Amol V Homker said. According to Superintendent of Police Ashwini Kumar Sinha, an 11-member team of an NGO went to the village to perform a street play on migration and human trafficking. A group of men arrived on the scene and took them to a nearby forest at gunpoint where the crime was perpetrated, police said. The police have identified the culprits and eight people were detained in this connection, Sinha said. An FIR has been filed and three teams have been formed to investigate the matter and arrest the culprits. The police officer said the victims did not inform the administration about the incident. They got the information from sources and identified the culprits. Medical examination of the women has been completed, he said.