Ranchi, Aug. 4: A woman and her daughter were shot dead by men in police uniform in the wee hours today and a tribal child in a government-run shelter was allegedly raped last night, both in Latehar.
Farmer's wife Rita Devi, 45, and daughter Sapna Kumari, 23, were dragged out of home in Makra village, Balumath thana area, last night. Abhimanyu Singh, Rita's husband, said he heard gunshots at 2am today and bodies of the wife and daughter were recovered at 5am.
Though the police are not ruling out a rebel angle, they are baffled as farmer Singh claimed he had no dispute with anyone. No sexual assault angle has emerged so far. The bodies were fully clad.
Recounting the horror, the farmer said there were loud knocks on his front door at 10 last night. Then, intruders banged the front and back doors claiming they were policemen. When he opened the door, three armed men in uniform but faces covered by gamchhas raided the home as more waited outside. Around 11pm, they grabbed Rita and Sapna and locked in Singh and his two sons. "We waited in terror and heard gunshots at 2am. After daybreak, villagers let us out. We ran in the direction we heard the shots and found the bodies."
In the other case, an eight-year-old tribal inmate of the state-run Gurukul on Latehar town outskirts, was found sobbing inconsolably near a pond at the rear of the shelter at 10.30pm. Enquiries suggested she was raped by the friend of an inmate, who may or may not be a minor. The suspected rapist is absconding while the girl is undergoing tests at Latehar Sadar Hospital.
Police said a boy rescued from Maoist gun lord Shravan Yadav's squad and an inmate at the Gurukul had been befriended by this suspected rapist, a youth from Vishnubandh village. Yesterday, this friend came to the kitchen at the Gurukul, which has 45 children, including 28 girls, but only night security, and told cook Rina Devi he was hungry.
Though the youth was not an inmate of the Gurukul, the cook asked him to wait. The youth asked the eight-year-old girl, who was helping the cook to make chapatis, for help to wash his hands at the hand pump. Then, the cook claimed she left for some work. When she returned, the girl and the youth were no longer seen. She was found three hours later near the pond, crying.
The suspected rapist's friend, on hearing the whole account, tried to hang himself. The minor boy was rescued and the police called.
Latehar SP Dhananjay Kumar Singh said the girl had not been able to speak coherently. He admitted the shelter did not have 24/7 security. "Medical report will confirm rape. It is a sensitive case and needs careful handling," he said.