The police have registered an FIR after protests by students over the alleged rape
The Himachal Pradesh police have denied that a student was gang-raped in a Dharamshala college on Monday. They had registered a first information report or FIR yesterday, after outrage on social media and protests by students.
A senior police officer said they have questioned a woman who had made met the college principal and alleged that her sister was gang-raped on campus.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the woman who was questioned told the police today that there was no gang-rape. "The lady concerned has been traced and she is in police custody," the chief minister said, adding, "Interrogation is going on, it seems the girl was being used to malign somebody."
Mr Singh, who is from the Congress, alleged a political conspiracy and accused the BJP's student wing, the ABVP, of "an organized attempt to malign somebody."
Members of the ABVP had been on protest outside the Dharamshala police station, alleging the involvement of sons of powerful people, including a minister, in the alleged crime. The students wing of the Left parties too staged protests.
But there was no trace of the student who they alleged was raped.
On Wednesday, the police filed the FIR based on social media posts, they said, against four unknown people. They also set up a three-member special investigation team or SIT.
The Himachal Pradesh police has also announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for providing information about the alleged crime.