Arunachal Pradesh: Specially abled woman raped; accused in police custody

A specially abled woman was raped and sustained multiple injuries after being repeatedly attacked with a machete by one Kyakang Warang, in Taloni village of Lower Dibang Valley district in Arunachal Pradesh.

The incident occurred on late evening of October 4 when the accused entered the house of the victim on the pretext of taking shelter from the rains for sometime before making his way to the labour camp where he was stationed.

Warang is reported to be a permanent resident of Warang village in East Kameng district, and had arrived in Taloni village a couple of days prior to allegedly committing the crime. He was part of a labourers’ team who were there for some forest clearing work.

A family member of the victim, who first learnt of the situation, recounted that, when she returned home, she found the culprit napping inside the house. She got scared because the victim was alone in the house at that time. When she hurried inside, she was shocked to find the room vandalised, and the victim lay there is a state of injury and shock.

“I was shocked to see her in that condition, all covered in blood. She screamed a lot, as her rapist had hit her in the face with the machete, which has left a deep gash near her mouth. Since our house is a little far from the village, no one could hear her screams. Not only had she been raped, she was brutally beaten by this man. When she tried to run and hide behind some banana plants, he destroyed them with his machete and got her. All her clothes and other household items were also damaged with the machete, including the fireplace. My husband was not home, and we do not have network coverage in our village area, so I could not call anybody for help either,” she recounted.

The victim's relative immediately went out and made a hue and cry for help, which led the villagers to turn up and apprehend the accused, even as he tried to escape. Initially, the locals thought that they would handle the matter as per their customary laws. However, there were others who insisted for filing a report with the police. 

Following this, a formal report was filed with the police in Roing and the accused was handed over to their custody. Meanwhile, police has initiated investigation into the matter.