JNU student alleges molestation at Asola Wildlife Sanctuary; says attackers tore her clothes, tried to gang-rape her

A Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student was allegedly molested and her six male friends were assaulted by a group of more than half-a-dozen men in Faridabad, police said on Thursday.

The 27-year-old student and her friends, who were on a fun trip, were reportedly held hostage at a lake in Asola Wildlife Sanctuary in Surajkund area on August 14.

On August 15, the Vasant Kunj (North) police had registered a Zero FIR in the case and then transferred it to Faridabad police through Surajkund police station.

According to the student, she and her friends, including one from Delhi University, had gone to Bhardwaj Lake and around 8:30 pm, they decided to return to Delhi. She rode a motorcycle with two of her friends, while the other four started to walk down towards the taxi waiting for them outside the sanctuary.

"While me and my two friends were driving towards the main road, two inebriated men carrying bamboos sticks blocked our path and started questioning us. They called six to seven of their accomplices who used filthy remarks against us. When we tried to avoid them, they attacked us with lathis," the victim said in the FIR.

"When we threatened to call police, they pulled me inside a temporary shed, tore my clothes, molested me, and tried to gang-rape me, but I resisted their attempts. They also tried to tie us up with a rope and threatened to cut us into pieces and dump in the lake," the JNU student said.

"They hurled offensive religious remarks against one of my friends. They slapped us repeatedly, saying we were cattle thieves," she said. She said they escaped after their group members, who had also reached the spot, called up another cab driver and pleaded with him to call police to rescue them.

The student said the police officers at Surajkund police station promptly refused to register their complaint. 

"Our ordeal and trauma did not end there. Police there abused us in filthy language and forced us to write an apology letter," the woman said in the FIR.

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"We have received the FIR from Delhi Police on Thursday regarding molestation, holding hostage, assaulting and attempt to rape on a JNU student and her six friends," Deputy Commissioner of Police (NIT) Faridabad Astha Modi told IANS. "We are investigating and will call them to record their statements at Surajkund police station. We are in the process of recreating the sequence of crime to identify the accused," he added.

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