A 17-year-old girl was gang-raped allegedly by six youth, including three minor polytechnic students here, for about a week since June 16. The incident came to light late on Saturday night.
Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kaushal told a media conference here on Sunday that three of the accused — Sk.Baji (20), a differently-abled mobile phone shop worker, R. Srikanth(23), a collection agent for a finance company, and P .Mahesh(19), a student — were arrested in less than 24 hours.
They were charged under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and IPC Sections 343(wrongful confinement), and 376D (gang rape), he said, adding the three students were shifted to a juvenile home.
Minister talks tough
Consoling the girl undergoing treatment at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here, Power Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy asserted that the YSR Congress Party government would take stringent action against the accused and take steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
The girl, hailing from Guntur, had come to Ongole by bus late on June 16 in search of her boyfriend, a car driver, after her mother chided her and beat her up for developing friendship with the latter.
While she was waiting for her boyfriend at the bus station, Baji took advantage of the situation and took her inside the mobile phone shop and committed the offence, the SP said after intense interrogation of the accused. Baji’s friend A. Srikanth and a minor boy confined her in their room the next day and sexually assaulted her, he said, adding they were joined by Mahesh and two minors who committed the offence in turns after threatening to kill her if she did not yield. She was dumped at the bus station on Saturday by one of the offenders and after she regained consciousness, she poured out her woes to the Shakti team women police personnel. Following this, six police teams fanned out and nabbed the accused in the wee hours of Sunday.
“We will seek police custody of the accused for further investigation,” the SP added.
