Group Of Men Drag Couple Into Forest, Rob Them, Attempt To Rape Woman

In a gruesome attack, a group of men allegedly dragged a couple into a forest, assaulted and robbed them before attempting to rape the woman in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district, police said on Saturday.Five people have been arrested in connection with the incident, which occurred near Gader village on Thursday night, and a search has been launched for two on-the-run accused, Superintendent of Police Hitika Vasal said.The couple was returning from a temple on a motorcycle when the accused intercepted them near a petrol pump on the national highway, she said.The official said that the men dragged the duo into a nearby forest, assaulted and robbed them of their mobile phone, wallet and other belongings, and attempted to rape the 26-year-old woman after calling some of their associates to the spot.She said that the rape attempt was thwarted after a passerby alerted the police patrol, which reached the spot promptly, forcing the accused to flee.A case was registered at Dharnavada police station under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), following which a special investigation team (SIT) was constituted to probe the crime.Police zeroed in on the accused with the help of technical evidence, CCTV footage and intelligence inputs, and arrested five of them.The arrested accused were identified as Babloo Banjara (23), Chhotu Banjara (28), Sardar Banjara (30), Mahendra Banjara (20) and Dinesh Banjara (28), the official said.During interrogation, the accused confessed to their involvement, following which the police recovered the stolen mobile phone, wallet and other belongings from their possession.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)