3 arrested, minor detained for gang-raping 17-year-old girl

Three youths were arrested while a juvenile was detained recently for allegedly gangraping a minor girl, who is now aged 18, between 2019 and 2020.

The victim had claimed in her complaint that the main accused had allegedly given cold drink laced with sedative and raped her, after which three of his friends took turns to sexually assault her. The sexual assault continued by threatening to circulate the video shot during the crime, which they released soon after she stopped budging to their demands.

A police officer said that the teenager, a resident of Bandra (W), was first allegedly raped by one of her neighbours in 2019, who had then shot a video of the crime, which he held as leverage to blackmail the girl. The accused, who was 17-year-old then, sexually assaulted the minor on multiple occasions and even asked three of his friends, all neighbours, to join him in the crime.

A senior inspector of Bandra Police Station said that the victim was sexually assaulted till July last year, when she stopped entertaining the men and was blackmailed and threatened to upload the video on social media platforms to defame her. A few months later, the accused allegedly shared the video clip on social media groups, which landed in one of the victim's relatives' chat, who shed light on the incident.

Nikhil Kapse, senior inspector of Bandra Police Station, said that the victim was confronted by her family, wherein she confessed of being blackmailed by the accused men, following which she approached police and lodged a complaint. Subsequently, a case was registered against the men on April 13, wherein they were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for rape (section 376), gang rape (section 376D), outraging modesty of a woman (section 354), criminal intimidation (section 506) and other sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Indormation Technology (IT) Act.

While two accused were held and a juvenile was detained on April 13, the fourth accused was arrested on April 18.