Manipuri women in Delhi raped, culprit arrested

The incident occurred before Republic Day but came to light after the death of Nido Tania, a 19-year-old student from Arunachal Pradesh.

Delhi Police arrested Prem Chand, a resident of Kotla Mubarakpur area in south Delhi, for his involvement in assaulting the two women.

Police said the two women, in their late 20s, were beaten up by a group of men in Kotla Mubarakpur on the evening of Jan 24.

On that day, one of the women who works in a shopping mall, had gone to buy some Manipuri herbs. When she reached the shop run by one of her acquaintances, who is also from the northeast, a man came walking down the street with a pet dog.

The women said in their police complaint that one of the men tied the leash of his dog to one of the women's boots. She panicked and in a bid to get rid of the dog started kicking the animal.

The men then started beating her, saying she had ill-treated the dog. The other woman tried to intervene and was also thrashed by the men. The men also passed racist comments on them, police said.

The women told police that none of the residents came to help them.

Prem Chand, the arrested man, is the owner of the dog, police said.

A case has been lodged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (assault or criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 34 (common intent).