Indian teenager raped again when used as a bait by the police for the same culprits

Maharashtran police have admitted to making a mistake by using a rape victim as bait in order to catch her assaulter. The 17-year-old Indian girl was allegedly raped at knife-point the first time on July 7, when she had gone to meet a male friend whom she had met on Facebook. The accused allegedly shot a video on her cellphone and tried to threaten and blackmail her.

The incident was reported to the police who made attempts to catch the culprits but a miscommunication meant that the girl was assaulted once again. Apparently, the police sent the girl back to the same spot as a trap with the aim of following her. 

Mr. Vishwas Patil, IGP Aurangabad district

 According to Mr. Vishwas Patil, Inspector General of Police Aurangabad district,
"The plan was that the victim would be escorted by the police to the spot. The victim, however, mistook a regular patrol van which passed by her house as the escort vehicle and thought that was the signal for her to leave for the spot. The girl was put through the injustice again. It is wrong to use a victim, especially a minor victim, as bait".

Pictures of the suspects

The alleged rapists were arrested hours later from a railway station via a tip-off the police claimed to have received. Vinod Ejjapwar, the police officer who was said to have led the operation to use the rape survivor as bait, has been suspended. An inquiry report on him is expected within 20 days.