Tension hits Meerut after gang rape

Security personnel on alert to avert communal clash

 Tension prevailed in Uttar Pradesh’s communally sensitive Meerut town, about 450 kilometres from here, after a teen was allegedly gang raped by some members of a different community.

Reports said one of the alleged culprits has been arrested while four others are absconding. Efforts are on to nab them.

Police sources here said the victim, a class 10 student, was abducted on Wednesday. Her family members found her lying unconscious near their house on Friday evening.

On gaining consciousness, the victim said she was taken to a forest area where she was repeatedly raped after being administered sedatives. 

She also told police that the culprits used to pass lewd comments on her while on her way to school.  Medical examination of the victim has confirmed rape, sources said.

A crowd later gathered at the police station demanding that the culprits be booked under the National Security Act (NSA). 

The crowd also raised anti-government slogans and warned of serious consequences if in any case the culprits were not arrested within 48-hours. 

The crowd relented only after officers assured speedy action in the matter.

Saffron organisations have threatened an agitation to protest against the incident and demanded immediate arrest of the accused persons.

The incident sent the police into a tizzy as a similar incident at Kaval town in the neighbouring Muzaffarnagar district in September last year had triggered large scale communal clashes in which 62 people were killed and hundreds others injured. Communal violence had also spread to the rural areas bordering Meerut district.

Security personnel in strength were deployed at all sensitive spots in the town to maintain order. 

A massive search has been launched to nab the alleged culprits, police officers said.