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Law & Order INDIAN style .................


               Woman `raped' in custody by
               `unidentified' men

               The Times of India News Service (8-29-97)

               PATNA: In a bizarre incident, a 22-year-old woman held
                in
               the
               Danapur police station, on the outskirts of the state

               capital, was
               allegedly raped by ``unidentified'' men.

               Women activists, Sister Sudha and Kanchan Bala, have
                 drawn
               the
               attention of the National Commission for Women to the
              case,
               pointing out that the police had lodged an FIR against
               ``unidentified people'' even while admitting that
               Shabnam
             (not real
               name) was in police custody on August 19.

               The activists said they had been told by senior police

            officers that
               no evidence of rape had been given in the medical
               report on
               Shabnam and that there were no signs of ``resistance''
               on
              her
               body. Her clothes, the police said, had been sent for

              forensic
               examination and the report was awaited. At the same
              time,
              the
               police had issued a warrant of arrest against a
            wireless
             operator
               posted at the police station because he had failed to

          report for
               duty since August 21.

               The activists in their memorandum to the National

               Commission for
               Women have pointed out that the FIR had been lodged
               four
              days
               after the alleged incident and hence the medical report
                had
                 little
               relevance. And since she was raped in police custody,
               it
               was for
               the policemen to prove their innocence and not for the

                woman to
               establish the charge of rape.

               According to the women activists, the police had
              arrested
               Shabnam on August 19 on ``flimsy'' grounds and in

               contravention
               of several Supreme Court rulings.

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