Eight days have passed since the rape. Four days have passed since the complaint. But there is still no trace of a constable of the Special Branch (SB) and his associate, on the run after allegedly abducting and raping a dock labourer’s 20-year-old wife on May 21, the day of the industrial strike.
The crime came to light four days after the victim lodged a complaint with West Port police station, on May 24. Her medical test has already been carried out and the forensic test is slated for May 30.
According to police, SB constable Younis Khan and his associate, Md. Javed, a crane driver, picked up the girl in “broad daylight” at the dock labourers’ quarters, in the West Port police station area. “She lives in a third-floor room and Javed is her neighbour. Younis visited the quarters frequently to meet Javed,” said an official of West Port police station.
According to the complaint lodged by the girl, the duo stormed her room when her husband was away. “They dragged her to an abandoned room. She could not shout for help as they gagged her before raping her,” stated the official. The victim returned home and later told her husband everything. “The couple took three days to decide on lodging a complaint,” said the officer.
The police conducted the necessary medical tests and an officer of the West Port thana admitted, “off the record”, that they were “positive”. She will be sent for forensic tests on May 30 and “a clearer picture will emerge from the reports”, he said.
From the day the complaint was filed, the cops claim to have launched a hunt for the criminal constable and his associate. His quarters are being watched and raids are being carried out in various hideouts.
K.L. Tamta, deputy commissioner of police, headquarters, said: “I will look into the matter and action will be taken against the offenders according to law.”
But the incident has revived ugly memories of crimes and misdemeanours of the men in uniform — the Nehar Banu case in 1993, when constable Nilkamal Ghosh raped the woman in Phoolbagan police station lock-up; traffic sergeant Tamal Ghosh allegedly raping a woman in the Maidan area and Rose Agnes being raped by constables of the reserve force in a prison van on her way to Alipore court from Presidency jail in 1998.
