A 20-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three youths and relieved of her belongings by four others at an isolated place in a Reserve Forest near Boothanatham in Dharmapuri district on Monday.
Police said the girl was taken into the forest by her friend Abimannan alias Tamil (28). He and two others allegedly raped her.
Seven arrestedWhen she resisted the other four, they assaulted and robbed the girl of her jewellery. All the seven were arrested, police said.
On the basis of a complaint from local people, the Pappireddipatti police reached the spot and rescued the girl and arrested Abimannan. The victim was sent to the Government Taluk Hospital in Harur.
Based on the information given by Abimannan, six of his friends were arrested near a sugar mill at Gopalapuram area in Harur.
They were identified as S. Prabu (23), V. Sampath alias Veerappan (28), M. Prabu (28), V. Ramesh (23), V. Ajit Kumar and M. Sivakumar (28) Kalliyur near Pappireddipatti. A case has been registered under Sections 376 (rape) and 397 (dacoity) of the Indian Penal Code.
All the arrested were produced before the Judicial Magistrate at Pappireddipatti and remanded in judicial custody, police said.
