The head of a missionary school and two other persons have been arrested in the alleged kidnap and gangrape of five women activists at Kochang village in Khunti district of Jharkhand earlier this week, the police told PTI on 24 June.
According to the Additional Director General of Police (ADG), RK Malik, Father Alfonso Alien of the missionary school and two others were spotted during an identification parade and were subsequently arrested. The activists were allegedly abducted from the missionary school.
However, Father Alfonso, against whom an FIR was registered for aiding and abetting the crime, was let off on personal bond after preliminary interrogation, reports PTI.
The other two accused have been identified as Ajub Sandi Purti and Ashish Longo. Their statements have been recorded before the judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC and sent to judicial custody.
According to PTI, Four other persons have been identified in the case and they will be arrested soon.
Two FIRs were registered in the heinous crime which took place on 19 June. While one FIR was filed against unidentified persons at a women police station in Khunti district, another was filed against Father Alfonso in Arki police station on Thursday, Superintendent of Police Aswini Kumar Sinha had said.
‘Conspiracy’ by Pathalgarhi Community
ADG RK Malik said that the sordid incident was an outcome of a “conspiracy and vengeance” hatched by people involved in ‘Pathalgarhi’, and the naxal outfit of the Peoples Liberation Front of India (PLFI). ‘Pathalgarhi’ is a practice in which villagers inscribe various tenets on huge stone slabs and ban outsiders in their area.
Malik said the accused came to the missionary school and forcibly took the victims to a nearby forest, where John Johanas Tidu, top leader of Pathalgarhi incidents in Khunti district, was waiting with several PLFI people to teach the activists a lesson.
ADG Malik said Father Alfonso reportedly asked the victims to accompany the criminals and told them that they would be let off after some time. The school head, however, asked the criminals to only let off two nuns working with him.
The police also said that Father Alfonso was duty-bound to report the matter to the police, but he tried to hush it up.
However, on the matter of Father Alonso being released on a personal bond when he was clearly found abetting the crime, the police officer said that as soon as more concrete and corroborative evidence could be found, the police would take appropriate action.
NCW Writes to Jharkhand DGP
Earlier, the National Commission for Women (NCW) had written to Jharkhand DGP directing him to apprise them about detailed action taken. The NCW has constituted a three-member inquiry team to investigate the case and submit recommendations.
Victims Threatened Not to Disclose Incident
According to Hindustan Times, the perpetrators allegedly recorded videos of the crime and threatened the girls with making the videos public if they told anybody.
The police officer said the victims did not inform the administration about the incident. They said they got the information from sources and then identified the culprits.
(With inputs from PTI and Hindustan Times)
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