17 men arrested for raping 11-yr-old girl over 7 months

CHENNAI: Seventeen men, including lift operators and plumbers who worked at an 11-year-old girl’s apartment complex in central Chennai, were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly sexually abusing her for seven months. The police were looking for more suspects involved in the abuse of the girl who has a hearing impairment.

The arrested men were assaulted by a group of lawyers in the court. A preliminary probe has found that the accused would take the girl to isolated places in the high-rise — the basement, public washroom, terrace, motor room, gym and lifts — and abuse her. “The parents believed that the girl was playing with her friends (whenever she was taken to these places),’’ a police officer said. “With the probe leading to more suspects, a total of 24 are to be charged under rape.’’

Police said the 17 were produced before the Saidapet Mahila court in the city and booked for raping the minor under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso).

The arrests came after the girl’s parents lodged a complaint with Vepery’s All Women Police Station saying lift operators, plumbers and a few others working in the complex had abused her. In the complaint, the girl’s father said his daughter was suffering from periodic stomach aches and inquiries revealed the child was sexually abused between January 15 and July 5.

CONTINUED ON P 8 ››RELATED REPORT, P7