Three men from MP held for gang-rape of woman in Goa

Three men from Madhya Pradesh have been arrested for allegedly gang-raping a 20-year-old woman at a beach in South Goa, police said today.

While two of the accused-- Sanjiv Dhananjay Pal (23) and Ram Santosh Bhariya (19)-- were arrested from separate places in Goa late last night, another one-- Vishwas Makrana (23)-- was held this morning from Margao, police said.

The incident took place on Thursday night at Sernabhatim beach, when the victim and her boyfriend were returning home in the evening.

The accused trio demanded money from the woman's boyfriend at knife point and then stripped both of them before raping her, police said.

As per the complaint lodged with Colva police station, the entire act was filmed on camera by the accused, who threatened to make the clip viral if they approached the police.

"All the three accused were arrested within 48 hours of the filing of the complaint. They were trying to escape from Goa," Superintendent of Police (South) Arvind Gawas said.

"All three of them are from Indore in Madhya Pradesh and they had been booked in the past in their state for various offences, including theft," he said.

While Pal was arrested from Karmali railway station near Panaji late last night when he was trying to board a train, Bhariya was arrested immediately afterwards from Kadamba bus stand in Margao city, 30 kms away from here, Gawas said.

"The third accused, Makrana, was arrested this morning from Margao railway station. He was also trying to escape from the state," the officer said.

According to Gawas, the trio has been booked under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 394 (robbery).

PTI