The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday took notice of an article published by The Tribune, which said that 10 women were raped by rioters near Murthal in Sonepat on Monday during the Jat quota stir. The HC observed that the matter needed to be probed by the "country's premier investigation agency", the Times of India reported.

The report said rioters stopped National Capital Region-bound vehicles and sexually assaulted women passengers, before setting the vehicles on fire. It also said "senior officers" discouraged the rape victims from pursuing the matter, quoting them as saying: “what had happened could not be undone”.

An HC judge observed that the incident was shocking, and referred the mater to acting Chief Justice S J Vazifdar. The case will now be treated as public interest litigation. However, senior Army officers who took charge of Sonepat district during the peak of the violence denied the incident. A Haryana government spokesperson said that the people mentioned in the report have denied the incident to officials who visited the place.