14-year-old drugged, gang-raped in Kerala district, two arrested

ACCORDING TO THE POLICE, THE ASSAULT CAME TO LIGHT 10 DAYS AGO WHEN THE TEENAGED SURVIVOR TOLD ONE OF HER RELATIVES ABOUT THE ABUSE

MALAPPURAM (KERALA): A 14-year-old student was allegedly gang-raped by seven people after befriending her through social media in the district, police said on Wednesday.

Two of the accused allegedly gave narcotics like ganja to the minor victim before sexually assaulting her, the police said.

While the two accused have been arrested, investigation is on to trace other culprits, they said. The assault came to light after the girl, staying with her mother, brother and grandparents, told about the abuse to one of her relatives 10 days ago, the police said.

Her father is working abroad. A case was registered on February 17 following the information provided by the district Childline, they said.

According to the police, the girl had been using Instagram in her mother’s phone for the last eight months.

The accused, who were not inter-connected, were her friends on the social media platform, the police said.

They belong to the age group of 19-24, police said said.

The accused have been charged under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the

Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

Two accused, who abused the girl after giving her drugs, have also been booked under the Juvenile Justice Act Section 77 (Penalty for giving intoxicating liquor or narcotic drug or psychotropic substance to a child).

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the number of crimes against women in India increased by 7.3% between 2018 and 2019. In 2019, 8,890 cases of stalking were reported in India.

There were 32,033 incidents of rape and the crime rate for rape was the highest in Rajasthan, where 5,997 rapes were reported in 2019.

Delhi reported 1,253 rape cases in 2019.