In a chilling incident that has shaken Jharkhand, five young men attending a wedding as part of the groom’s party abducted a minor girl and subjected her to a brutal gang-rape. The crime unfolded in the Mahuadanr police station area of Latehar district on the night of February 27 during a lively marriage ceremony.
The girl had joined the festivities when the accused lured her away with false promises. They took her to a secluded forest area far from the village and carried out the heinous assault. After the act, the perpetrators fled the scene, leaving the victim traumatized. Somehow, she made her way back home and confided in her family about the nightmare.
News of the atrocity spread like wildfire, sparking outrage across the region. Acting swiftly on the family’s written complaint, Mahuadanr police identified and arrested all five suspects. Three of them, being minors themselves, have been sent to a juvenile correction home.
This isn’t an isolated case. Just a week earlier in Gumla district’s Raidih area, eight men gang-raped a minor student returning from a fair late at night with a friend. Before that, in the same district’s Kamdara area, four men in a car abducted and assaulted two minors. These back-to-back horrors highlight a disturbing pattern of violence against young girls in Jharkhand, raising serious questions about women’s safety despite government schemes like Maiya Samman Yojana aimed at empowerment.
Authorities have registered cases under relevant sections of the POCSO Act and rape laws. Investigations continue as the community demands stricter law enforcement and faster justice to prevent such barbarism.