Faridkot, January 5
The Faridkot police on Saturday booked three youths for allegedly raping a minor girl and then forcing her to eat a poisonous substance. While two of the accused have been arrested, the victim is in hospital where her condition is stated to be critical.

The accused allegedly threw the girl outside a room in a field in Matta village of Jaitu sub-division on Friday night after raping her. “Two accused have been arrested and the police is looking for the third,” said Faridkot Senior Superintendent of Police GS Toor.

He said family members of the victim approached the Jaitu police on Friday evening after she went missing. As they suspected the involvement of a village youth, the police started looking for the girl. She was recovered from a field in a critical condition. Apparently, she had been forcibly administered a poisonous substance.

She was shifted to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital here and is battling for survival.

After the police nabbed one of the accused, Jagmit Singh, the other accused Jagsir Singh attempted to kill himself by consuming poison in his house. “Jagsir Singh has been admitted in hospital for treatment under police security,” said the SSP. “The police will also run the DNA test of the accused to substantiate the rape allegations.”

The field where the crime was committed belongs to a local politician, who is also president of the administrative committee of a historical religious place. The politician, however, said he had no information about the incident and had not gone to his fields for several months after he met with a road accident.