Assam Minor Gang Rape Case: Prime Accused Jumps Into Pond To Escape Police Custody, Dies

In Assam, the main suspect in the alleged gang rape of a young girl died while trying to flee police custody. The accused attempted to escape by jumping into a pond during a crime scene recreation.

Cops said the accused escaped from police custody and jumped into the pond (Image: ANI)

Source : ANI

Assam Rape Case: The prime accused in the alleged gang rape of a minor girl in Assam’s Nagaon district died in the wee hours of Saturday after he reportedly “tried to escape" the police and "jumped into a pond”. The deceased, identified as 24-year-old Tafazul Islam, was one of three accused in the alleged gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in Nagaon’s Dhing area.

Islam was arrested on Friday. He was only one of the three accused arrested so far and was booked under sections of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the POCSO Act. According to the police, the accused was taken to the crime scene late in the night for a re-creation of the crime scene around 3.30 am. There, the police claimed Islam attempted to escape and jump into a lake in the area.

VIDEO | Assam: The prime accused in the rape of a minor girl allegedly escaped from police custody, jumped into a pond and died on Saturday morning at #Dhing in Assam's #Nagaon district. Visuals of the body of the accused being taken away after it was recovered by the police from… pic.twitter.com/YtHNZgR2Lo

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 24, 2024

"The accused escaped from police custody and jumped into the pond. A search operation was launched immediately and his body was recovered after nearly two hours," news agency PTI reported quoting police.

A constable, who was holding the accused, was also injured during the escape bid, according to a report by Indian Express. 

The 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three persons who came on a motorcycle and surrounded her while she was returning home from tuition on her bicycle at Dhing on Thursday evening. She was left injured and unconscious on the roadside near a pond, before being rescued by locals who informed police. While police arrested the prime accused and detained another, the search was on to nab the third.

The incident sparked outrage in Assam, with hundreds of locals taking to the streets to protest and demanding strict punishment for the perpetrators. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has assured that the government would “not spare anyone” involved in the case.