Mandi Gobindgarh, July 25
In a major accident, five members of a family, including a child, were killed on the National Highway-1 here this morning.

The ill-fated Maruti car in which the Ludhiana-based family was travelling to pay their obeisance at Fatehgarh Sahib Gurdwara was hit by a truck trying to overtake it around 10.15 am.

Police officials investigating the matter said the truck, laden with stones (meant for the widening of road), tried to overtake the car. In haste, the truck’s rear side hit the car, as a result of which the car driver lost control of the vehicle and it hit the road divider.

The truck then fell over the car, killing five of its six occupants on the spot. The sixth occupant is battling for her life at the Civil Hospital, Fatehgarh Sahib.

Those killed have been identified as Paramjit Kaur (45), her son Jagjit Singh (22), Gurmeet Kaur (40), her son Daljit Singh (18) and Kunwarpreet Singh (8). All were residents of the Shimlapuri area of Ludhiana and the family was into iron casting business.

Jagjit Singh was driving the ill-fated car.

Charanjit Kaur (18), daughter of Paramjit, the lone survivor of the tragedy, sustained multiple injuries and a hip fracture.

Traffic remained blocked on the the stretch and it took more than two hours to salvage the bodies with the help of cranes.

The stretch has become very narrow lately due to the ongoing construction work.

Heavy machinery like trucks and cranes remain parked haphazardly on the road, often leading to accidents.

This is third such accident in the past one year on the stretch.

On August 27 last year, five members of a family from Kathua were killed on the same road.

The Kathua family’s car had rammed into a stationary truck, just 3 km from the scene of today’s accident.

Also, four “raagis” (Sikh hymn singers) had lost their lives in an accident at Mandi Gobindgarh on February 17.

The police has booked the truck driver in this connection. No arrest has been made so far.

Ludhiana, July 25
The police resorted to mild force to disperse protesting aspiring BEd teachers here today, after the latter got agitated and threatened to block traffic to lodge their protest. A number of protesters were rounded up as a precautionary measure but were later let off by the police.

The problem started around 1 pm at Chatar Singh Park, where over 600 members of the Berozgaar BEd Teachers’ Front and the 50-50 Bachao Front were protesting amid heavy police presence.

After a meeting with the members, the association leaders decided to march to the Bharat Nagar Chowk, one of the busiest city roads, and block traffic.

When senior police officials intervened and asked the protesters to peacefully hand over the memorandum of their demands to the authorities concerned in a meeting, the latter got agitated and started scattering in various parts of the city, threatening the law and order situation.

“A few protesting leaders were rounded up, purely as a precautionary measure,” said ACP Parmod Ban.

However, the protesters alleged they were lathi-charged and thrashed by the police.

“Many of our members were injured when the police resorted to lathi-charge at the Bharat Nagar Chowk, where they had gathered to block the road,” alleged Berozgaar BEd Teachers’ Front president Harjeet Singh Jeeda.

Another protester Parminder Singh alleged that many of their front members were taken into police custody and taken to the police stations at Sarabha Nagar and Division No 5.

“Many protesters sustained injuries when the police resorted to lathi-charge,” he alleged.

The ACP, however, denied the allegations. “Those who were rounded up were immediately let off after a warning against blocking road. They were not taken to any police station. Neither were they cane-charged,” Ban asserted.

Meanwhile, situation remained tense for a long time and senior police officials, including ADCP (west) Raj Kumar and ADCP I Harsh Bansal took stock of the situation in various parts of the city.

The Bharat Nagar Chowk area was cordoned off by the police while heavy police was deployed at bus stand, Chatar Singh Park and Link Road to avoid any untoward incident.

The Front members were protesting to press for their demand of appointment under the 50-50 scheme.

Front president Jeeda said: “We had been recruited last year against the advertised posts of master and lecturer under the 50-50 rule of the government wherein 50 per cent seats are reserved for women and 50 per cent for men. After completion of all formalities, we were to be handed over our appointment letters by March this year but in January, 2010, the apex court passed an order to make all appointments on merit and dissolve the 50-50 rule.”

“But as per the court’s directive, our appointments were to be made under the 50-50 scheme as they were announced last year before the new rule came into effect. However, the government dissolved the rule and announced our appointments as per the new rule, which turned things against a majority of us, who stood to lose appointment under the new direction,” Jeeda added. 

Ludhiana, July 25
With the first positive case of swine flu surfacing in Jalandhar, the department of health and family welfare in the city has taken a double-check on the preventive and curative measures to fight against the disease.

Ludhiana, having witnessed 100 positive cases of swine flu followed by 30 deaths in the last year’s pandemic, has borne the brunt of the disease in the past.

As a result, the department had sent 5,000 doses of “Panenza vaccine” (preventive vaccine against H1N1 influenza) for doctors, nursing staff, paramedical employees deputed at civil and private hospitals to treat swine flu patients.

Dr Deepak Bhatia, state nodal officer for the integrated disease surveillance programme, said the swine flu positive case in Jalandhar was an “indigenous” one, adding: “We are already tracing all contacts to give them the required treatment.

The department is following the old line of treatment, which includes administration of antibiotic “fluvir”.

“We have instructed the civil surgeons in all districts, including Ludhiana, to rejuvenate the campaign against swine flu, as we have to be on alert looking at positive cases and subsequent deaths in Delhi this week. We just cannot sit back and relax, thinking the weather is not conducive to the swine flu virus to survive, as the first case of H1N1 in Punjab was reported in March, last year,” Dr Bhatia went on to add.

On “Nasovac”, the intra-nasal swine flu vaccine introduced recently by Serum Institute of India Ltd, available at some hospitals in Patiala, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Mohali, Dr Bhatia said he would get in touch with the state drug controller to have a dialogue with the company’s representative for its availability for general public in Punjab.

“However, this will be a paid vaccine, as we do not have any instructions from the union government on it.”

At the same time, the hospitals have been instructed to keep isolation wards ready, followed by the availability of ventilators in case of emergency.

Ludhiana, July 25
Jagroop Singh Ruby, a resident of Talwan village, near Bilga, who has become the face of crime in the city after he snatched Rs 42.45 lakh from the employees of Bonn Food Industries, is on a honeymoon trip.

The criminal, who is said to be the head of a gang, had eloped with a girl and got married just four months ago.

If sources are to be believed, the wife of Jagroop Singh is also actively involved in the gang.

Son of a mechanic, Jagroop has a hefty criminal record and is wanted in several cases. He was arrested by the Bilga police and further sent to jail in Patiala, where he met other criminals and formed a new gang.

He fled from police custody at Samrala Chowk on December 15, while he was being produced before a court.

“He had spread the word in his village that he fled to Dubai following his marriage,” said SI Hussan Lal.

However, Ruby did not go anywhere and instead formed a gang along with new accomplices, whom he met in the jail.

According to the sources, he wanted to involve his old and close aide Dharminder Singh, alias Bhinder, in the gang but the latter refused to join his criminal activities. Bhinder is still living in the village.

The sources said Bhinder gave crucial inputs to the police about the location of the accused.

Ruby had formed a gang and robbed an Toyota Fortuner from a Patiala resident recently.

Later, they committed a series of robberies in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala and was dubbed the notorious “SUV gang”.

Following the Rs 42.45-lakh robbery, the gang members spilt. While some went to Dharamsala, others headed towards Kullu-Manali.

If the sources are to be believed, some of the gang members were arrested by police in this connection.

Suspected robberies by ‘SUV gang’

May 6: Armed youths rob an industrialist of his laptop and luxury watch after a chase in Focal Point, Phase V

May 13: Armed robbers snatch Rs 29 lakh from Seehra village sarpanch on the Bajra road

May 21: Robbers flee with an SUV at gunpoint in Sarabha Nagar

June 12: A bag containing Rs 10 lakh robbed from a forex dealer on the Hambra road; and a car taken away at gunpoint near Sarabha Nagar

June 19: A youth robbed of his car while he was returning home after watching a movie with his friend

Ludhiana/Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 25
The administration has failed to tighten the noose around private bus operators and auto-rickshaws drivers, who violate traffic norms with impunity, thereby putting the lives of passengers as well as others in danger. Drivers of Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation are no exception.

Though it is not unusual for the region, if managers and owners of these two public modes of transport advise their staff to respect others commuting on road, at least 75 per cent of the accidents could be avoided.

Investigations by The Tribune revealed that negligence on part of drivers of public transports or auto-rickshaws was the main reason behind a majority of accidents taking place in the area.

Sudden application of brakes on seeing a passenger and sharp turns by these two modes of transport did not allow enough reaction time to drivers of two-wheelers and other vehicles tailing behind them. Hundreds of commuters had suffered due to this tendency in the past several months. Some of the accidents have been fatal.

Drivers and helpers of erring vehicles don’t even bother to help victims of accidents taking place due to their fault. In a majority of cases, they flee the scene, leaving the injured at the mercy of passersby. Even if some driver is caught, he is got freed by his fraternity through pressure tactics.

Dr Ravinder Sharma, a social activist of Ahmedgarh, said he was lucky to save his car from colliding with a private bus, when it suddenly stopped to pick up some labourers standing on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla Road, a few days ago.

“Had I not steered my car to extreme right of the road, it could have collided with the bus ahead as its driver had applied brakes too abruptly for me to react. I was fortunate that no vehicle was coming from the opposite side otherwise it could have been fatal,” said Sharma. He regretted that the bus driver instead of realising his mistake threatened him with dire consequences in case he (Sharma) tried to lodge a complaint.

Mohinder Singh, a bank official, got his both scapulae fractured while saving his scooter from three auto-rickshaws, which stopped suddenly to pick up a passenger from roadside near the Government College for Women in Ludhiana some days ago. None of the three drivers bothered to look at Mohinder Singh, who was dragged by a car following his scooter.

Though situation had improved after the introduction of the commissionerate system in the city and surrounding localities, it became uglier after a few months.

Let alone taking action against those violating norms on parking and halting at busy places, the police seems to be blind to vehicles running in prohibited lanes. Scores of buses, including private and state transport ones, enter the bus stand from the wrong side, with no action ever taken against them. Drivers of these buses rank their time and money above occupants of vehicles abiding rules.

Dropping of passengers, hitting of vehicles going ahead and unnecessary stoppage at busy crossings was a come scene in the area.

Raikot, July 25
Coming to the rescue of ailing residents, the SDM ordered the reopening of drug stores of Raikot that had proceeded on a three-day summer break in the area.

Since the chemists had downed their shutters, the residents felt harassed for they had to go to nearby towns like Jagraon, Mullanpur Dakha, Sudhar, Ludhiana and Mandi Ahmedgarh to get medicines.

Many persons contacted Raikot SDM Mukand Singh on Friday and asked him to intervene in the matter. The SDM, after consulting the Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, ordered the chemists shop to arrange some alternative keeping in view the problems of the patients.

He ordered that any among Dashmesh medical store or Punjab Medical store or Happy medical store, or Passi Medical store should be opened for these three days. Following orders of the SDM yesterday, the chemists of Raikot revised their earlier decision to close down opened their shops.

Not only the chemists but also various associations of Raikot keep their establishment close for three days during summers.

This year, the association had announced closure in Raikot for three days i.e. from July 23 to 25. Formal announcements, including notices in vernacular dailies, had been issued regarding this closure.

Ludhiana, July 25
Ludhiana MP and national spokesperson of the All-India Congress Committee Manish Tewari today branded Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal as a trader, saying his family was out to exploit political power to fill up their coffers.

“They are not politicians, but rogue traders who have total control over bus service, cable network, sand and land trade in Punjab. Their lust for money and abuse of state power had pushed Punjab on the verge of economic bankruptcy,” the Congress MP said while addressing largely attended public meetings in ward numbers 1 and 4 here.

He said the Congress workers who dared to expose the misdeeds of governance were hounded after by the state machinery and implicated in false cases. “But this political vendetta, unleashed by Akalis, will get befitting reply once the Congress comes to power,” Tewari warned.

Claiming that he had made sincere efforts for getting developmental schemes as well as financial assistance for the city, the MP said Rs 50 crore had been sanctioned for the cleaning of Budha Nallah, Rs 66 crore was got sanctioned from the Central government for city bus service and due to his personal efforts, a local passport office was being opened in the city soon.

Accompanying him at the meetings were former minister Malkiat Singh Birmi, District Youth Congress president Dimple Rana and PPCC general secretary Pawan Dewan among others.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 25
Terming the tall claims being made by the SAD-BJP government on development front in Punjab an eyewash, Ludhiana MP and national spokesperson for the All-India Congress Committee Manish Tewari alleged that communal harmony and economy of the state had suffered jolts during their regime.

Tewari was talking to Ludhiana Tribune after addressing a gathering of Congress activists at Latala village, near here, on Saturday.

Jasbir Singh Jassie, legislator from Kilaraipur Assembly segment, presided over the function.

Accusing SAD and BJP leaders of misguiding masses about sources of development funds, Tewari alleged that the ruling coalition in the state was not only misusing and misdirecting Central grants but also defaming the Centre by accusing it of being anti-Punjab to draw political mileage.

Tewari presented cheques worth Rs 5 lakh for development of the village.

Former minister Malkit Singh, legislator Gurdeep Bhaini and Congress office-bearers Pawan Dewan, Satwinder Singh Jawaddi, Parminder Latala and Manmohan Singh Narangwal also spoke.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 25
Agricultural labourers and other workers doing their jobs while squatting suffer most from degeneration of ankle bones. Similarly, a changed lifestyle is fast leading to a rise in the cases of osteoporosis in urban residents.

This conclusion was arrived at by a group of doctors led by Dr Pankaj Jain, MS (ortho), after examining 200 patients suffering from skeleton ailments during a camp organised by a local unit of the Rotary Club at Sood Hospital here today.

Referring to information collected from the examined patients, Dr Jain said the degeneration of ankle bones and lower limbs was noticed in marginal farmers and agricultural labourers who had to squat for hours daily. Also, labourers and owners of milch cattle who milked cows and buffaloes were also prone to the disorder.

A sedentary lifestyle and change in food habits also affected the strength and alignment of skeleton. Decreased mineral content and accumulation of fat resulted in postural diseases and osteoporosis. The bone mineral density was very low in those who consumed more junk food.

Patients were provided with free medicines by the organisers. 

Ludhiana, July 25
Terming changed lifestyle as a major factor behind increased incidences of cardiovascular, neurological and malignant disorders, medical specialists called upon office-bearers of social, educational and religious organisations to launch a coordinated movement to aware masses about causes and consequences of these dreaded diseases.

An appeal was made during the awareness meeting of the Rotary Club, Ludhiana Midtown, organised here yesterday. Padma Bhushan recipient Dr Naresh Trehan was the chief guest and Dr Devinder Garg presided over the meeting.

Various speakers, including Dr Trehan, Dr Garg, Dr AN Jha, chairman of the neurosciences department at the Medanta, and Dr Ashok Vaid, chairman of the department of oncology, maintained that the changed lifestyle, full of stress and hazards, was the major factor behind most of the dreaded diseases, including heart attack, neurological disorders and cancer.

Maintaining that prevention was the only measure to combat the menace of increasing incidences of these diseases. The specialists called upon the social organisations to launch the coordinated move to spread awareness about the causes and consequences of these ailments.

Ludhiana, July 25
The Clinical Establishment Bill would not have come into existence had the doctors followed their professional ethics, opined Dr Naresh Trehan. He was addressing a gathering during an interactive session on the “Quality Healthcare in India, where do we stand,” organised by Hero DMC Heart Institute on Friday.

Dr Trehan, chairman, Medanta, the Medicity in Gurgaon, said the Bill would safeguard the interests of general public as a large number of doctors were indulging in malpractices which had to be curtailed through the legal system.

Dr Trehan said: “The standard of healthcare in India used to be benchmarked by the standards existing in the West. Earlier, there was no institution that was willing to challenge this norm. Even when we established Escorts Heart Institute in 1988, our role models were the institutions in the West. Now, our effort is to change this pattern and the purpose behind establishing Medanta-Medicity has been to give us our own benchmarks in quality healthcare.”

He also said the results of the cardiac surgeries conducted with stem cell therapy in 30 per cent of the cases had given very good results, especially in cases where people had lost hope of any recovery. Briefing about the advancements in the cardiac surgery in India, Dr Trehan said the team of surgeons in Medanta would soon start artificial heart replacement, which had not been done in India so far.

Ludhiana, July 25
Members of the Ludhiana branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) launched a plantation drive here today for providing lungs to the city choked with environmental pollution of the worst kind. Led by the IMA president Dr Narotam Dewan, the doctors planted 50 saplings of medicinal plants in the Civil Hospital premises.

Dr Dewan along with assistant civil surgeon Dr AK Mehta planted a “neem” sapling in the hospital park. Another 50 saplings were planted in the IMA House at BRS Nagar later in the day.

In a fervent appeal to the city residents and members of the medical fraternity, Dr Dewan emphasised the need for more and more green cover in the industrial hub of the state. "Let each one of the city resident plant a sapling and nurture the plant till it is able to support itself."

Speaking at the occasion, Dr Mehta lauded the initiative of the IMA towards tree plantation, which, he added, was need of the hour to tackle the alarming level of pollution in the city and diminishing green cover.

Meanwhile, the District Youth Congress organised a plantation campaign in Ward No. 69 at Dholewal where the DYC president Dimple Rana and block secretary Chetan Thapar planted saplings.

Rana said as a part of community welfare programmes, the party was carrying out tree plantation drives in different parts of the city in its bid to check high level of air pollution in the city. He urged the people to not only plant more and more saplings, but take care of the plants till their maturity.

Ludhiana, July 25
Reality shows are for real, asserts pretty and petite Shiraz Khan. The beautiful young girl, who shot to fame after winning a reality show on a Punjabi television channel, rubbishes all allegations of such shows being scripted and fixed.

“All daring stuff, drama and action are for real. People who lose always make such allegations,” says reality show winner-turned model Shiraz.

The teenybopper adds, “A lot has been said and written about the reality shows. Some call it fake, others dismiss it as a mere publicity gimmick for attention seekers, but the fact remains that surviving the turmoil of a reality show is no mean feat.”

“One has to be really tough, mentally, to survive the pressures of being watched by the camera 24X7.

Fakes cannot survive in the world of reality television,” Shiraz says.

In the city to be a part of lifestyle exhibition, “Bride and Groom”, Shiraz gives all credit for her success to the reality television. “I am what I am because of the reality show that I won. It opened the doors of modelling world for me,” says Shiraz, who has modelling assignments for brands like Madame, Liberty, Style Check among others to her credit.

Just like others in her situation, Shiraz, too, is cashing in on her overnight success that the show brought along. “Bollywood is my next destination,” grins the starry-eyed girl.

Aspiring to make her Bollywood dreams come true soon, Shiraz claims to have laid hands on some good Hindi films with big production houses. “I have got numerous offers from the leading Hindi filmmakers for lead roles in the films. I will soon shift base to Mumbai to be able to concentrate with a clear focus on my career in Hindi films,” Shiraz says before signing off.

Ludhiana, July 25
Social cost, carbon credit and environment conservation are some issues, which are needed to be addressed and balanced with development.

In this regard the media and society had to play an important role, said Sundeep Singh Bedi, a film producer, while addressing members of the Ludhiana Management Association (LMA) on the topic “Need vs Greed” at a hotel here.

LMA president VK Goyal, general secretary Dr KNS Kang, dignitaries and other members of the association were also present on the occasion.

Sundeep Singh Bedi, while addressing the members, said the media had to play an important role in this world where battle between the need and greed was fierce, where needs were eclipsed by greed and conflict was severe than any other conflict of religion or nation.

He also brought forward the fact that the media and society are dependant on each other. Even in the field of education, entertainment is playing a major role to arouse interest among students regarding social and environmental issues and in imparting quality education. The new league of movies like “Munnabhai series”, “Tare Zameen Per” and “3 Idiots” has also brought the change in the mindset of people.

Ludhiana, July 25
Everyone has watched Poonam Dhillon on screen, but last night the city people got a chance to watch the live performance of the actress in a play “Pyar mein kabhi kabhi”. This romantic comedy was staged by Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam at Guru Nanak Dev Bhawan.

The play is set in the backdrop of a hill station. In the opening scene the audience is acquainted with a Sikh husband, Happy Singh, and his Bihari wife Malai Devi played by Anil Aggarwal and Prerna Aggarwal, respectively.

After a small clash of ideas Malai Devi leaves for her parental house and Happy Singh, the owner of a restaurant, is left alone. The main characters, Poonam Dhillon and Aasif Sheikh, made their entry in the second scene.

Roshni (Dhillon) and Deepak (Sheikh) both land in Happy Singh’s restaurant. Roshni is an artist who has come to the hills in search of peace to complete her painting. Deepak, a consultant in a firm, is going through turmoil in his personal life. Roshni is also fed up of her boring lover.

Deepak is a jolly-go-lucky person and then starts their arguments and they ultimately fall in love, but both of them keep it to themselves and do not confess before each other.

In between the scene Happy Singh makes people laugh with his funny antics. His wife has left and he does not know cooking. The situation lands him into a dilemma. He only knows how to cook khichdi and make both of them agree to eat the same.

Both Roshni and Deepak go back to their worlds, but something in their hearts calls them back to the same restaurant after few days. They both confess their love to each other and while sharing their life experiences with each other they come to know that they were childhood friends who were in love with each other, but had lost contact. Both were happy to be together again and start life afresh.

While this romantic comedy enthralled the audience, but the plot of the play was loose. The play becomes stagnant at various places, but overall the acting of the lead pair, Dhillon and Sheikh, was enjoyed by everyone present in the auditorium.

Mullanpur Dakha, July 25
A farmer of Gurahoor village near here died of asphyxiation this afternoon. The deceased, identified as Balwinder Singh (42), had gone to his fields today to irrigate them.

However, when he reached to his field the water pump did not lift the water in several attempts.

In order to examine the fault, Balwinder Singh went down the tubewell. He fell unconscious due to the poisonous gases present in the well.

Mukhtiar Singh, another farmer working in the nearby fields, saw the scooter of Balwinder Singh parked near the tubewell room. As he was not seen nearby, he went to his tubewell bore and found Balwinder lying in the well.

He informed the villagers and the family members of Balwinder regarding the incident. The villagers had a tough time in extracting Balwinder out of the well. By the time he was taken out he died.

Balwinder Singh had been the president of the local Gurdwara Management Committee and the secretary of the Co-operative Milk Society of the village. He is survived by his wife and three daughters.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 25
With an intent to evade action against them, drug traffickers neither transact illicit business in the vicinity of their area nor employ unknown persons as their helpers.

Interrogation of a notorious drug peddler, who had been smuggling drugs and narcotics from neighbouring states to various parts of the border state in his truck for the past eight years, revealed this tendency.

Karnail Singh of Kalakh village in Ludhiana district, who was nabbed by the Jodhan police along with 175 kg of poppy husk contained in five bags, confessed to having distributed drugs and narcotics in various parts of the state without being booked even for once.

Investigations by cops led by Inderjit Singh, SHO, Jodhan, revealed further that nobody in his village and surrounding localities ever suspected Karnail Singh of being involved in any anti-social activity. Rather he, along with his friends and other members of family, used to take active part in religious and social functions of the village.

Though lending and borrowing of small quantities of poppy husk and opium was a routine among drug peddlers, Karnail never gave even a spoonful of these products to any of the villagers. All consignments brought by him in his truck from Rajasthan were stocked in farmhouses.

A Tata Indica (PB 10 AC 0286) was used to distribute the contraband among drug peddlers for selling it in the retail market to addicts of their respective areas. The police has also seized a car used for smuggling drugs.

Jagraon, July 25
The Sidhwan Bet police has finally booked the five youths accused of raping a physically challenged girl of Bharowal Khurd for three days.

The polio-infected girl had complained that she had been gangraped by five youths of the nearby villages. The Bhundri village police as well as the Sidhwan Bet police, instead of ensuring justice to the victim, was busy in helping the accused by giving them ample time to reach out a compromise with the family of the victim.

The Tribune reported the tale of woes of the victim in these columns on July 19. After the breaking of the news, DSP, Jagraon, Joginder Singh summoned all records and yesterday ordered the SHO, Sidhwan Bet, to book all the accused. However, though the victim had identified all five youths, the Sidhwan Bet police booked only two by name and marked the remaining three as unidentified.

The 18-year-old girl had accused that she was overpowered by someone from behind when she had gone to the fields in the village to get cow dung cakes to cook food on the afternoon of July 2.

She was taken to a tubewell room in the nearby fields and was administered some sedatives and thereafter her nightmare started with all five youths raping her, taking turns, for the next three days.

The rape victim had accused the police of not providing her justice as it was reluctant to register the case against the accused.

She said though she visited the Sidhwan Bet civil hospital, the doctors there refused to conduct her medical check up without the police approval and turned her out of the hospital.

Interestingly, the hospital staff claimed that they had conducted the medical examination of the girl, but as the girl had left the hospital on her own and there was no case registered in the police station they were keeping the medical report with them.

After the instruction from the DSP Joginder Singh, the Sidhwan Bet police booked Harjinder Singh and Sukhdev Singh of Gorsian Khan Mohammad village and their three ‘unidentified’ accomplices under Sections 376, 365 and 506 of the IPC on the statement of the victim.

No arrest was, however, made. The family of the victim is accusing the police of shielding the remaining three accused identified by the victim as Malkait Singh and Tara Singh of Gorsian Khan Mohammad village and Harjinder Singh of Kot Umra village.