Khandwa police detain 6 accused of gangraping woman:Survivor assaulted in isolated field; panchayat cleared them of charges earlier, labelled them ‘sanskaari’

A gangrape case involving a tribal woman has surfaced in Khandwa. Police have registered a case against six accused and taken them into custody. The incident occurred on November 29 around 1 AM. The victim initially approached the community panchayat, which described the accused as well-behaved. When justice was not served, she filed a complaint with the police on December 8. Tribal woman gangraped in Khandwa The 27-year-old victim said her husband had a contract from the village head (Patel) for irrigation in a field near the main road, where there was constant movement of people. On the night of the incident, six villagers came to a hut in the field, claiming they were cold and wanted to light a bonfire. Her husband lit the fire and went to irrigate the field. As soon as he left, the accused seized the opportunity and gangraped the woman. Threatened to kill
The victim stated that she and her family earn their livelihood through labor. After the incident, she was very scared because the accused had threatened to kill her husband. Fearing social stigma, she remained silent, but later gathered courage and spoke out to the community. Three days ago, a community panchayat was held. The victim said, In the meeting, the women from the accused’s family described their sons as well-mannered. Our side was not heard at all, because all the arbitrators were from the accused’s family. After this, we went to the police station. The woman’s husband said, I trusted them, seeing them as people from our community, and gave them space at the shack at night. I lit a bonfire for them, but those people betrayed me. Everyone was known to me, but I cannot forgive them. Even after such an act, those people had no shame at all. When we protested their brutality against my wife in a community meeting, they started to dominate us instead. Today they did this to my wife; tomorrow they might commit such an act against someone else’s daughter, which is why I complained to the police. We want the culprits to receive the harshest possible punishment. Police apprehended all 6 accused
Mundi Police Station TI Rajendra Narwariya said that the woman reached the police station late on Monday night. A case was immediately registered after the complaint. Police formed teams and rounded up all the accused by 10 AM on Tuesday. The names of the arrested accused are Ranjit s/o Prahlad Gond, Bharat alias Badri s/o Santosh Gond, Amit s/o Atmaram Gond, Nikhil s/o Vinod Gond, Sandeep s/o Mahesh Gond, and Sawan s/o Mansingh Gond. All of them are residents of Ward No. 5, Gondbaidi Mundi.