2 minors held over Hyd teen gang rape; car seized
HYDERABAD: Two minor boys were apprehended on Saturday in connection with the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in Hyderabad, police said, adding they have also seized the car used in the crime.
Out of the five accused identified in the minor girl’s gang rape, three persons have been apprehended so far, including 18-yearold Saduddin Malik who was arrested on Friday, said Joel Davis, deputy commissioner of police, Hyderabad (West Zone). The remaining two accused in the May 28 gang rape, including a minor, are absconding.
“Of the remaining two accused, one has been identified as 18-year-old Omer Khan while the other is a minor. Efforts are on to apprehend the absconding accused,” Davis said.
Malik was produced before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate court at Nampally, which sent him to judicial custody. The two juveniles apprehended on Saturday were produced before the juvenile court, the DCP said.
On Friday, police said a teenage girl, who visited a pub in Hyderabad on May 28 was allegedly gangraped by five persons, including three juveniles.
The police have registered a case under sections 376-D (gang rape) and 323 (causing injuries) of the IPC, besides sections 5 and 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offices (POCSO) Act, against the five accused at Jubilee Hills police station.
On Saturday, the Hyderabad police seized the Innova car in which the survivor was allegedly gang-raped.
The case stirred a political row with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging involvement of kin of an All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader and demanding a CBI probe.
On Saturday, M Raghunandan Rao, the BJP legislator from Dubbak, held a press conference and released some photographs and a 10-second video purportedly showing the minor girl with a boy, who he alleged was the son of an AIMIM legislator.
HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the photographs and the clip.
Rao said if the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government did not take action, he would approach chief justice of India NV Ramana with all the evidence and seek a probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge.
“I have some more evidence with regard to the incident. I shall produce them before the court,” Rao said. Police, however, said the authenticity of the photos and video clip was yet to be ascertained.
“It is really surprising how the BJP MLA could get access to the photos and the video clip... We are looking into their veracity,” said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity.
“According to our investigation,
the MLA’s son left in a Mercedes Benz car from the pub around 6.15 pm, after which the girl travelled with five others from the outlet in an Innova car, in which they sexually assaulted her,” said the officer.
Senior TRS leader and chairperson of state’s women commission V Sunitha Laxma Reddy said: “The government will stand by the victim and ensure the guilty get stringent punishment.”
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has sought an explanation from the Hyderabad police over the delay in the registration of an FIR in the case. It has also sought the registration of an FIR against a city pub for allowing entry to minors.