Assam constable arrested after seven years on charges of rape

Shillong, Sep 2 (UNI) An Assam police constable, who was accused in the rape case of a seven-year-old mute girl in a village along the Meghalaya-Assam border, has been remanded to judicial custody by the Jaintia Hills district court in Meghalaya.

Police said here today that Deep Das, a constable in Assam's Fourth Battalion, was arrested from the Battalion headquarters in Guwahati last week and brought to Jowai for interrogation.

On May 13, 2001, the accused, then deputed at the Assam Police Border Outpost near Khanduli village, allegedly raped the mute girl in the village.

Village secretary Womless Langshiang immediately lodged a complaint in this regard at Saitsama outpost.

Later, Meghalaya police, along with the rape victim, went to the Assam BOP and identified Das as the culprit, but he could not be arrested as the BOP falls under Assam's jurisdiction. The Assam police then transferred the accused to Guwahati.

Leaving no stone unturned, the Meghalaya police went to the Assam Police Battalion headquarters in Guwahati several times to secure custody of the constable, but to no avail, even after three non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against the constable by the court.

Meanwhile, the accused has been chargesheeted and a blood sample would be collected from him for comparison with the medical report of the victim conducted at the time of the incident.

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