Tribal woman gangraped in Chhattisgarh; three arrested

A 23-year-old tribal woman was allegedly raped by three men at a forest in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, a police official said on Wednesday.

All the accused have been arrested, he said.

The incident took place late Sunday evening when the woman went to relieve herself in a forest area under Balco Nagar police station limits, the official said.

The woman, who is separated from her husband, was staying at her parents' home in a village here since the past few days.

When she went into the forest, the accused suddenly grabbed her and dragged her near a rivulet where they allegedly took turns to rape her, the official said.

They tied the woman's hands with a scarf and also gagged her so that she could not scream for help, he said, adding that when she fell unconscious, the accused fled.

After the woman regained consciousness, she somehow managed to reach home and narrated the ordeal to her parents who lodged a police complaint on Monday.

Based on the complaint, the three accused, identified as Rajesh Kumar (28), Shrisingh Kanwar (26) and Ashwani Kumar (25), were arrested on Tuesday and booked under Indian Penal Code Section 376 (D)(gang rape), the official said.