MUMBAI – The Mumbai Police arrested six people for allegedly raping a15-year-old girl. Three others accused in the case are absconding, policesaid, adding that they booked a total of nine people based on theteenager’s statement, Indian Express has reported.
The victim and her mother reported the crime to the police onSaturday. According to police, the teenager had been facing sexual assaultfor more than a year at the hands of the nine accused. The minor victim andthe nine accused, aged between 20 and 30 years, stay in the same locality.
“The girl would go to study in the house of a neighbour, who has beenarrested in the case. One day, when the family of the neighbour was not athome, he started touching her inappropriately and later forced himself onher.
The accused then discussed the incident with one of his friends. When thesurvivor came to his place for the second time, the accused shot a video,”said an officer from the Vile Parle police station. Later, another accusedallegedly blackmailed her using the video and raped her, the police said.
Police said the video was circulated in the area, following which more menfrom the vicinity started raping her after blackmailing her with the video.Fearing social stigma, the girl didn’t speak about her ordeal with anyone,police said. “The girl started falling ill more often, following which hermother asked her what was wrong. The 15-year-old then revealed her ordealto her mother and they reported the incident to the Vile Parle policestation,” said an officer.
After the case was registered, a police team was dispatched to the area andthey got hold of six accused, said the police, adding that three were stillabsconding. “The girl has been raped many times in one and a half years bythese nine men. She is traumatised,” the officer said.
The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the IPC and theProtection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The arrested accused wereproduced in court and have been remanded in police custody until February12.