Mass rapes did take place in Haryana's Murthal, the Punjab and Haryana High Court says
Reports that several women were dragged out of cars and raped just 50 km from Delhi in Haryana's Murthal last year at the height of violent Jat quota protests are true, the Punjab and Haryana high court has said.
The Haryana police had denied newspaper reports on the alleged mass rapes in February and said no credible eyewitness had backed the claims.
The allegations are not without basis, the court said yesterday, accepting the statements of two witnesses and ordering a Special Investigation Team to redouble its efforts to identify the women and their attackers.
The police have been asked to confirm in writing before a trial court that rape charges haven't been dropped.
Murthal is a popular pit-stop for travelers from Delhi, with a long row of dhabas or eateries lining the roadside.
Two of the dhaba owners reportedly told the police that on February 22 - when the Jat protests were ebbing - a mob of 30 stopped cars and at least 10 women were pulled out and raped in the fields. The cars were allegedly set on fire.
As pictures of women's underwear scattered near the highway emerged, the police said they had been looted from a shop.
They also said in court that the rapes had not been confirmed by the owner of the Sukhdev Dhaba, one of the most popular eateries in Murthal, who was questioned for six hours.
Around 30 people were killed and over 300 injured during the Jat quota agitation in which mobs burnt buildings, blocked highways and damaged cars in Haryana.