Tribal women accuse SPOs of rape

“We will record the statements of the victims tomorrow. If there is a prima facie case, we will proceed against them as per the provisions of law,” he told The Indian Express over the telephone on Monday evening. He also said the women would be sent for medical examinations.

The detained SPOs have been identified as Rakesh, Dhamru and Rakesh.

SPOs are local youth recruited under the provisions of the Police Act on an honorarium of Rs 1,500 per month to assist the district police and paramilitary forces mainly in anti-Naxalite operations.

According to the complaint, three SPOs abducted young tribal women, who came to Kirandul to work as manual labourers from Pulpad village, at gunpoint and took them to the nearby forests and raped them. The matter came to light after the Adivasi Mahasabha took these women to Kirandul police station and staged a dharna and road blockade, demanding immediate arrest of the accused.

Meanwhile, Adivasi Mahasabha president Manish Kunjam, a former legislator of the CPI, said the police was yet to record the statement of the victims. He alleged that the police did not act swiftly and woke up only after the members of the Adivasi Mahasabha staged a dharna.

“We suspect that an effort is being made to hush up the case”, he claimed.