Assam: Rape accused Army jawan commits suicide

An Army jawan, the prime accused in the recent rape case of three women, today allegedly committed suicide here in Assam's Karbi Anglong district, the police said. The jawan, identified as Satyabir Dara of the 8 Jat Regiment, shot himself with his rifle and was rushed to Diphu Civil Hospital where he was declared "brought dead," Karbi Anglong Superintendent of Police MJ Mahanta said.

Dara, hailing from Haryana, was identified as the prime accused and was likely to be arrested today, he said adding, the body has been sent for postmortem. A case was filed in the Dokmoka police station on April 8 alleging that some members of the 8 Jat Regiment had raped a woman and two young girls on April 6 in Parkopahar area, where the security forces had gone to conduct search operations.

The incident had led to widespread protests with 11 people, including nine security personnel, injured in stone pelting and subsequent police firing on a mob agitating on April 10 against the alleged rape.

Several social and political organisations also submitted a memorandum to the Union Home Minister through the Deputy Commissioner yesterday demanding immediate arrest of the Army personnel allegedly involved in the incident within 24 hours and withdrawal of Army from the area.

A 24-hour long Karbi Anglong bandh was also called on April 11 by several organisations jointly to protest against the incident. The agitation by the protesting organisations was called off yesterday following Deputy Commissioner Mukul Gogoi's assurance that the accused would be arrested within 24 hours.