Gang rape in Assam: Teenager asked aunt what rape was 2 days before gang rape

A 14-year-old girl who Gang rape in Nagaon district of Assam on August 22, her aunt had asked her what rape was two days before the incident.

“Aunty, what is rape?” the survivor's aunt recalled when she spoke to India Today NE about her niece's question about reading articles about the Rape and murder of the assistant doctor in Calcutta.

The aunt said she was “shocked” after the incident.

“I never thought something so cruel would happen here. It looks like I failed to protect her,” she said.

“She dreams of becoming a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) one day. She even spoke to the DSP when he visited her in the hospital and managed to smile at him,” she said.

The girl was raped by a group of assailants on August 22, just 1 km from her home in Nagaon's Dhing, while she was on her way home from classes.

The girl lived with her aunt and grandparents and usually went home from classes with her aunt or in a rickshaw. However, on August 22, she had ridden her bicycle to class. As she was returning home at around 6 p.m., she was raped by three men in a forest about a kilometer from her house.

Locals found her unconscious in a forest and immediately took her to a nearby hospital.

This incident sparked major protests in Assam demanding justice for them and severe punishment for the accused.

Her aunt further said that the girl's father is in Guwahati and as he is unable to support her financially, he sent her to her aunt's house in Dhing. Her aunt, who earns Rs 10,000 a month, takes care of her education and basic needs.

The survivor's father said: “It was heartbreaking to see my daughter in the hospital in such a condition where she could not even speak.”

He further said that for her safety, he would probably take her away from Dhing once she recovered.

One of the defendants in this case, Tafazul Islam, is said to died after jumping into a pond to escape from the police, they said. Further investigations are ongoing and the search is ongoing for the other accused, police said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma condemned the incident and called it a “crime against humanity”.

“The horrific incident in Dhing involving a minor is a crime against humanity and has struck our collective conscience. We will spare no one and will BRING the perpetrators to JUSTICE,” he said in a post on X.

(With contributions from Bikash Chetry)