21-year-old woman in search of job gang-raped in Bhopal; two held

A 21-year-old woman in search of job was allegedly raped by two men who work as cooks in a hotel here, police said today.

The accused, identified as Rahul Thakur (22) and Monu Sharma (26), were arrested within hours of the incident which occurred last night.

The woman had come to Bhopal from Sagar to meet her cousin, a resident of the state capital.

The incident occurred after the woman got down at the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) here and called up her cousin, who in turn asked his friend Idris (30) to make arrangements for her stay around ISBT, said Bhopal Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Dharmendra Chowdhary.

The officer said Idris called up his friends Thakur and Sharma to ISBT and all of them had dinner together.

"After Idris left for his home, Thakur and Sharma took the woman to a place (near ISBT) and raped her," he said, adding that the incident occurred under Govindpura police station area.

The officer refused to disclose the exact place where the alleged incident had occurred.

He said the accused duo were walking with the woman towards Shahpura late last night when they spotted a police vehicle and fled while leaving the woman behind.

The DIG said the duo work as cooks in a restaurant.

Police have booked Thakur and Sharma under sections 376 (punishment for rape), 376 (D) (gangrape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

Police are looking for Idris to find out his role in the incident.