Another gangrape victim battles injuries, 8 of 15 held minors

Even as the gangrape of a woman in a moving bus in New Delhi continues to shock the country, an 18-year-old is battling severe mental trauma and physical injuries after being gangraped and assaulted in East Garo Hills district of Meghalaya. Of the 16 named in the FIR, 15 have been picked up by the police. Eight are minors, between the ages of 13 and 17.

A student of a local high school on the outskirts of Williamnagar, the district headquarters, the girl was accosted on December 13 while on her way back from celebrations to mark the local Simsang festival. She was bludgeoned with a stone, cut with a knife and injured in her genital area.

"While two of the girls (with her) ran away, the men caught hold of her, dragged her to a bush by the roadside, and assaulted her. How many raped her is yet to be ascertained," East Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Vijay Kumar Mantri told The Indian Express, adding that the girl had suffered major injuries and was undergoing treatment in Williamnagar.

Mantri said the accused belonged to adjoining villages, including from the girl's own village. They would have killed her with the stone but for the fact that she recognised one of them who was allegedly attacking her with a knife and called out his name. Scared, they left her and fled. She lost a lot of blood by the time she was found.

"The seven adults, between 18 and 22 years of age, have been sent to police custody and a case of assault and rape has been slammed against them," the deputy commissioner said.

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