NEW DELHI, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Indian police Monday claimed to have arrested the main accused in last month's horrific gangrape of five women in eastern state of Jharkhand.
The five women, belonging to a non-government organization, were allegedly abducted and then raped by a group of armed men on June 19 while they were conducting anti-human trafficking campaigns and streetplays in the state's Khunti district, some 90 kms from capital Ranchi.
"The main accused in the case has been arrested from a village in the state's West Singhbhum district. He has been identified as Baji Samad who carried a reward of 50,000 rupees (700 U.S. dollars). He has confessed to the crime," a senior police official said.
According to media reports, the women were raped while some men accompanying them were held at gunpoint, before being released three hours later. The accused had filmed the act and threatened to make it public if the women reported to police.
Police who are said to have known about the incident from a local source suspect that the perpetrators are supporters of Pathalgadi, a feudal tribal system under which the people govern themselves according to the tribe's rules and do not recognize the state's authority.