Two trainee Army officers were attacked by miscreants in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district in the wee hours of Wednesday and one of their two women friends there were also raped while all of them were out on a picnic, police said.
The officers, aged 23 and 24, are undergoing Young Officers (YO) course at the Infantry School in Mhow cantonment town, news agency PTI quoted Badgonda police station in-charge Lokendra Singh Hirore as saying.
Police later said they have arrested three of the six persons who allegedly assaulted two army officers and raped their woman friend near Mhow in Madhya Pradesh. One of those arrested reportedly has a case of loot registered against him in 2016.
The officers had gone out for a picnic on Tuesday along with two female friends, Hirore said. At about 2 am on Wednesday, seven unidentified men arrived near the picnic spot on Mhow-Mandleshwar road and started beating up one of the officers sitting in a car and also the women, he added.
The second officer, who was away from the car, managed to inform his seniors about the incident, after which police reached the spot, Hirore said.
Seeing the police, the miscreants fled the spot.
All four victims were brought to Mhow Civil Hospital for medical examination at about 6.30 am and as per doctors, there were signs of injuries on the officers' bodies, Hirore said, adding that the medical examination confirmed that the miscreants had raped one of the women.
Indore Rural SP Hitika Vasal said a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections pertaining to loot, dacoity, rape and under the Arms Act has been registered."
Police have launched a manhunt for the miscreants, SP Vasal said.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the attack on the two Indian Army officers and the alleged gangrape of their female friend was a disgrace to the entire society. He added that law and order in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states is almost non-existent.
Taking to X, Rahul Gandhi said, "The violence against two army soldiers and the rape of their female companion in Madhya Pradesh is enough to shame the entire society. Law and order in BJP ruled states is almost non existent - and, the negative attitude of BJP Government towards the day by day increasing crimes against women is extremely worrying."
"This audacity of the criminals is a result of the total failure of the administration and the unsafe environment prevailing in the country due to this is a restriction on the freedom and aspirations of the daughters of India," Rahul Gandhi said, adding that both the "society and the government should be ashamed and think seriously – how long will they turn a blind eye to the responsibility of protecting half the population of the country!"
