Eyewitness accounts claim that women were dragged into the nearby fields in Murthal during the Jat agitation.
A woman has come forward and told the Haryana Police that she was pulled out of a car and gang-raped in Murthal on the night of February 22. The police have registered a case against 7 accused, a senior official said on Sunday.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Rajshree Singh said the survivor, who is from Narela in Delhi, came to the women's police station in Murthal and a case was registered. The woman told the police she was accompanied by her 12-year-old daughter, who was let-off unharmed, when they were pulled out of the car by the men. The woman has identified one of them being her relative.
"The police will now investigate the charges," Ms Singh said. Another police official said that the incident took place after midnight.
After reports of sexual assault on a number of women at Murthal during the violent agitation demanding reservation for Jats, the state had formed a three-member team headed by Ms Singh to probe the allegations. The Punjab and Haryana High court took suo motu cognisance of a
newspaper report in The Tribune.
After the police said they had received no complaints,
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had also issued an appeal to the people to cooperate with the police.
Police officials said while some men had called to say they saw women being dragged into the fields, but they did not come to record a statement. A truck driver claimed yesterday that
he saw dozens of women being dragged to a field near Murthal, but said he didn't know if they were sexually assaulted.
"I saw almost 50 women. They were being taken to the farms. I didn't see what was done with them," he told news agency ANI on Saturday.
Another truck driver said he saw women being dragged to field near the highway. He also said he could not lodge a police complaint as he was thrashed by the protesters.
Innerwear scattered on the highway near Murthal and the account narrated by the truck drivers gave a chilling face to reports that women were raped near this popular pit-stop for travelers, just 50 km from Delhi.