19-Year-Old Is Choked And Sexually Abused With Iron Rod In Attack Similar To Delhi Bus Rape

Just days before, the Supreme Court of India denied the appeal of the two convicted rapists, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh, who participated in the barbaric assault of Jyoti Singh in 2012, to have their death sentences canceled. It was hoped that the strict punishment would serve as a deterrent for anyone who even thought about committing a heinous crime like them. But a recent rape case in the Pardi area in Nagpur, which bears a stark resemblance to the Delhi bus rape, says otherwise.

A 52-year-old man, Yogilal Rahangdale, who is currently in police custody, has been accused of raping and sexually assaulting a 19-year-old with an iron rod after choking her into an unconscious state on January 21, 2020. The accused also lived with the woman, her brother and another woman at a rented accommodation in the Pardi area in Nagpur and worked as a supervisor at the spinning mill where the victim is employed as a laborer.

One day, when her brother and others went out, leaving the teen alone, Rahangdale got the opportunity he had been waiting for and he forced himself upon her. When she tried to resist, he stuffed a wad of cloth into her mouth until she fell unconscious. He then, allegedly, raped her and used an iron rod to sexually assault her further.

While the victim kept herself silent after the incident, she finally told her brother about the attack three days afterward, following which he accompanied her to the police station to file an FIR against the accused.

The disturbing detail about the insertion of the iron rod is similar to the New Delhi bus attack

The 2012 Delhi gang rape, that shook the entire nation, also involved the six men assaulting a 23-year-old woman with an iron rod, which caused severe organ damage, leading to her death.

In India, rape is the fourth most common crime against women. As per the statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 24,923 rape cases were reported across India in 2012 and to date, this number has only increased with a conviction rate that keeps diminishing.