Two deeply troubling incidents of violence against women have emerged from Kullu district within days of each other, reigniting serious concerns about the safety of women and girls in the region.
In the first case, a minor girl was allegedly raped by two of her classmates at a computer training centre in Dhalpur. According to a complaint filed by the victim’s mother at the Women’s Police Station in Kullu, the family had grown worried after the girl abruptly stopped attending her computer course for nearly a month.
When pressed for an explanation, the frightened teenager broke her silence and revealed the horrific truth. She told her family that on April 10, two fellow students lured her to their room and forcibly assaulted her. The accused went further, recording the assault on video and using the footage to blackmail and silence her.
The police have registered a case under Section 6 of the POCSO Act along with relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Kullu SP Madan Lal Kaushal confirmed that both accused are being actively traced and that strict legal action will follow.
Barely days later, another chilling incident unfolded in the Brow area of Kullu. Kanika Sharma, a married woman from Shimla’s Kumarsain area, had come to stay at her mother’s home on May 18. Around midnight, a doorbell rang and when she opened the door, an unidentified man forced his way inside, grabbed her by the throat and threatened to kill her if she reported the attack.
Her screams alerted neighbours, causing the accused to flee. A case has been registered under Sections 332(c) and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and police are questioning suspicious individuals in the vicinity.
These incidents are not isolated. Kullu district has witnessed a deeply unsettling pattern of violent crime in recent months. Three murders rocked the district in just four days in January. At the ‘Pipal Jatar’ festival at Dhalpur Maidan, a dispute over money turned bloody when a trader was stabbed in the stomach and the attacker remains at large. Taken together, these incidents paint a grim picture of a district where law and order appears increasingly strained, and where the most vulnerable — women, minors, and ordinary citizens — continue to bear the heaviest cost.
