65-year-old woman raped in Himachal's Hamirpur

Hamirpur (HP), May 19 (PTI) A 65-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a man who offered her a lift on his scooter near Bhota area here, police said on Monday.

Hamipur Superintendent of Police Bhagat Singh Thakur said the incident happened when the elderly woman was returning home from Jalandhar on Saturday night.

She got down at Bhota bus stand at around 9 pm and looked for a taxi. However, she did not have sufficient money to pay the price quoted by the taxi drivers. In the meantime, the accused offered her a lift, claiming that he was heading in the same direction, SP Thakur said.

However, the accused forcibly took the woman to Jhiraldi forest. He drove the scooter at high speed, leading to a minor accident. When the woman raised objections, he beat her up and raped her, the SP said.

The accused, a married man working as a tractor driver, put the elderly woman's mobile phone on flight mode so that she could not contact her family members and fled the spot. She later managed to contact her son with the help of some people, the SP said.

The police, who reached the spot, provided medical aid to the victim. They also caught the accused who was hiding in the forest.

A case has been registered and further investigation is underway, the SP said. PTI COR BPL RUK RUK