The police in Bihar’s Gaya district have detained 20 men for allegedly raping a woman and her daughter after tying the woman’s husband to a tree. Gaya Senior Superintendent of Police Rajeev Mishra said the youths were detained within hours of the incident, which took place late on Wednesday in Sondhila village, the Hindustan Times reported.

“The victims have identified two of them as the other criminals had covered their faces while committing the crime,” Mishra said.

The youths waylaid a medical practitioner, who was travelling on a motorcycle with his wife and daughter, near Sondiha village, the police said. They then assaulted him, tied him to a tree and took turns raping his wife and daughter in a field.

The accused then freed the man and warned him not to report the incident to the police. However, the doctor called the police. Subsequently, Mishra and Sherghati Sub-Divisional Police Officer Manish Kumar reached the spot and arranged for an ambulance to take the woman and her daughter to a hospital in Gaya.

The two police officers conducted raids at Sondiha and two adjoining villages and detained 20 suspects. The officer in charge of Konch police station was suspended for negligence, NDTV reported.

“It also came to light during investigation that before the gangrape incident, the same group snatched mobile phones and cash from a couple of students passing through the village,” Inspector General of Police (Central Zone) Nayyer Hasnain Khan told the channel.