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.
"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.