BHOPAL: Within a week after a 24-year-old woman was kicked out of a moving train for resisting rape in Chattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, government railway police (GRP) claimed to have arrested the offender.
Accused has been identified as Rambabu Yadav, 34, resident of Suri Village in Lalitpur district (UP). He was produced before local court on Monday which remanded him to judicial custody for three days.
Four different teams were set up by the GRP Jabalpur division for his arrest. A mobile phone recovered from the spot helped police to establish his identity.
“It wouldn’t have been easy for us to solve this case had he not visited the scene of crime to ensure she was dead”, said GRP SP Vinayak Verma. He would have killed her, if villagers hadn’t gathered at the spot before his arrival, said the officer.
After pushing her off the train, Yadav got down at Rajnagar station and walked 4 km along the tracks to reach her. He saw people tending to her. Yadav fled from the scene as some of the villagers got suspicious seeing an unfamiliar face in the locality. He dropped his mobile phone in panic which was handed over to the police along with his description.
Police traced the phone to a JCB contractor who identified the number and said that he had allotted it to one of his old employees. He also confirmed descriptions given by the villagers.
After getting specific inputs, the suspect's house was kept under surveillance. Since Yadav didn’t turn up, his family members were kept under close watch. Police got the person who was delivering food to his hideout and arrested him with the help of Tikamgarh police.
During interrogation he reportedly confessed to his crime. Police said that he was into an extramarital affair with a Chattarpur woman and had gone to drop her at the Bageshwar Dham temple that day. While returning he found this woman alone and made a rape attempt.
Meanwhile the victim has been referred to Gwalior for a surgery where district collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh has provided funds from the Red Cross Society.
The survivor is a resident of Uttar Pradesh and was in Chattarpur to visit Bhageshwar Dham temple, 35km from the district headquarters on Khajuraho-Panna Road.
She had vowed to visit the temple for 21 Tuesdays and it was her last visit on the day of the incident.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
