MUMBAI - The Mumbai Police arrested six people for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl. Three others accused in the case are absconding, police said, adding that they booked a total of nine people based on the teenager’s statement, Indian Express has reported.
The victim and her mother reported the crime to the police on Saturday. According to police, the teenager had been facing sexual assault for more than a year at the hands of the nine accused. The minor victim and the 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 been arrested in the case. One day, when the family of the neighbour was not at home, he started touching her inappropriately and later forced himself on her.
The accused then discussed the incident with one of his friends. When the survivor came to his place for the second time, the accused shot a video,” said an officer from the Vile Parle police station. Later, another accused allegedly blackmailed her using the video and raped her, the police said.
Police said the video was circulated in the area, following which more men from 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 her mother asked her what was wrong. The 15-year-old then revealed her ordeal to her mother and they reported the incident to the Vile Parle police station,” said an officer.
After the case was registered, a police team was dispatched to the area and they got hold of six accused, said the police, adding that three were still absconding. “The girl has been raped many times in one and a half years by these nine men. She is traumatised,” the officer said.
The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The arrested accused were produced in court and have been remanded in police custody until February 12.