Trainee army officers assaulted by armed miscreants in Madhya Pradesh, woman friend gang-raped

Two trainee army officers were brutally assaulted and one of their two women friends was allegedly gang-raped at gunpoint by a group of armed miscreants when they were on a night out in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district on Sep 10.

The incident happened when the two Major-rank officers, who were undergoing training at the Army War College in Indore's Mhow Cantonment, for an outing along with two female friends to a spot near the firing range at Jam Gate area.

Intending to rob them, the attackers seem to have set upon the group.

The four friends were surrounded by eight men armed with pistols, knives, and sticks. They beat up the trainee officers and the women before robbing them of their money and belongings.

The situation took an ugly turn when the attackers took one officer and a woman hostage, sending off the other officer and a woman to fetch a ransom of ₹ 10 lakh, reports said.

The officer asked to arrange ransom hurried back to his unit and informed his Commanding Officer, who alerted the police.

Police officers and troops rushed to the spot but the attackers fled on seeing the approaching vehicles.

All four were taken to the Mhow Civil Hospital for a medical examination on Sep 11 morning. Police have arrested two of the accused while a manhunt has is underway to nab the others.

Leader of Opposition and Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Gandhi on Sep 12 castigated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Madhya Pradesh government.

"The violence against two army soldiers and the rape of their female companion in Madhya Pradesh is enough to shame the entire society," he posted on X.

"Law and order in BJP-ruled states is almost non-existent - and, the negative attitude of BJP Government towards the day-by-day increasing crimes against women is extremely worrying," he added.