Chandigarh: Auto driver tried to rape victim again, but she raised alarm

Amit Sharma
Chandigarh, January 11

The 35-year-old rape victim was allegedly violated by the auto driver at an isolated place on the way to the ISBT, Sector 17, and he tried to rape her for a second time when she raised the alarm following which vigilant Home Guards volunteers rushed to her rescue.

The victim had come from Delhi to meet a friend residing at Mauli Jagran. However, her friend was not at home following which she came to the railway station from where she hired an auto for the ISBT, Sector 17, on Sunday night.

DSP (Central) Charanjit Singh Virk said the victim was raped at an isolated place on the way to Sector 17. “The suspect, before dropping the victim at the bus stand, decided to assault her again following which he drove the auto towards a secluded place near the Haryana Mini-Secretariat and while he was again trying to rape the victim, she raised the alarm,” the DSP said.

The police said hearing the victim’s cries, the Home Guards volunteers, who were on duty at the Mini-Secretariat, rushed to her rescue. They helped the police in apprehending the suspect.

The DSP said the victim did not know the place where she was raped first.

UT SSP Kuldeep Singh Chahal said the verification drive of auto drivers was conducted from time to time. However, in the wake of the fresh incident, the police had been directed to intensify the drive.

The Home Guards volunteers, Vijay Rana, Kuldeep Verma and Ashwani, were honoured today with a cash reward by the SSP.

This incident of rape by an auto driver is a grim reminder of two similar incidents of rape reported in the city in 2016 and 2017.

In 2016, a call centre employee, who had boarded an auto for Hallo Majra, was raped by the auto driver and his two accomplices in a forest area in Sector 29. A year later, a 22-year-old girl, a Dehradhun resident, was raped by three men, including an auto driver, in a forest area in Sector 53.

Within a few days, the police nabbed the suspects and found that same auto driver and his accomplice were involved in the 2016 rape case. The local court had, in 2018, granted life imprisonment until death to the three men.

Not a history-sheeter

The police said the suspect’s antecedents were verified and he was not found to be involved in any case earlier.