Guwahati girl molestation: It was like gang rape, says reporter

Guwahati (Assam) - A reporter of the Northeast channel Newslive, which recorded the molestation of a girl in Guwahati on Monday night that has caused national outrage, has described the incident as akin to “gang rape”.

"It wasn't molestation. It was like gang rape," Dipya Bordoloi reportedly told a news channel.

Dipya Bordoloi said he reached the scene of incident a shortwhile after the mob began molesting the girl.

While he tried to stop the mob from assaulting the girl, he had to step back as it continued to grow.
 
"Don't touch, don't touch her, I said, but the mob was growing. There were about 50 very angry people there," Dipya said. He added that he asked his cameraman to record the incident as evidence. The cameraman was specifically asked to catch the faces of the culprits.

During the incident that continued for more than half-an-hour, the girl was pushed, dragged, beaten and stripped on a busy Guwahati street with onlookers just standing and watching.

"She was crying for help, but no one came forward," Dipya said.

Meanwhile, a team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) is in the Assam capital to probe the horrific incident.

The team reportedly sought to know why police reached the incident site late after being called in. It also demanded that the guilty policemen be suspended.

The police on the other hand are hunting for the absconding accused. So far, only four of the 11 men identified from the video footage have been nabbed.

A video clip of the incident shown on TV has sparked national outrage as police were accused of tardy action.

Police said all 11 have been identified and efforts are on to trace the others involved in the crime that took place on Monday night.

The 17-year-old was with another girl when she left the Club Mint on the busy GS Road at about 9.30 pm on Monday. She was looking for an auto, when the men accosted her. The other girl managed to escape.

The teen's cries for help fell on deaf ears till senior journalist Mukul Kalita, who happened to pass by, stopped the men and rescued her with the help of police who by then had arrived on the scene.

Outraged activists have put up hoardings across Guwahati with photographs of the 11 culprits and asked people to inform police about their whereabouts.