Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi to address a public gathering and lay foundation stones of projects worth Rs 3,880 crore. Upon landing in Varanasi, PM Modi received a detailed briefing from the Police Commissioner, Divisional Commissioner, and District Magistrate of Varanasi regarding the recent gruesome rape incident in the city involving a 19-year-old survivor.
The teen was allegedly gang raped by 23 people over a period of six days in Varanasi. She was allegedly drugged by the accused men, who took her to several hotels in the city. A total of nine persons have been arrested so far in connection with the case.
PM Modi has instructed the police authorities to take the strictest possible action against the culprits and to implement appropriate measures to prevent such incidents in the future, news agency ANI reported.
9 Accused Arrested So Far, Search On For Remaining
Additional Commissioner of Police, Cantonment, Vidush Saxena said that police teams are conducting searches to nab the other accused, who he assured will be arrested soon. He said the rape survivor is fine and police are in contact with her family members. The survivor's family members refused to talk to the media, news agency PTI reported.
Police officials said the woman had gone out with some youths on March 29, but did not return home. Her family filed a complaint on April 4 when she did not return home.
When she was rescued, she did not mention about the rape, but days later, her family lodged a complaint on April 6, alleging she had been gang raped. Following this, a case was registered against 12 named and 11 unnamed persons under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The named accused have been identified as Raj Vishwakarma, Sameer, Ayush, Sohail, Danish, Anmol, Sajid, Zahir, Imran, Jaib, Aman and Raj Khan, PTI reported.
The woman told the police that she was allegedly gang raped by the accused who took her to many hotels and hookah bars between March 29 and April 4. She also said the accused shot her videos.
ALSO READ: 1 Dead As Miscreant Open Fire In Delhi's Vikaspuri, 2nd Shooting Incident In 24 Hours