New Delhi: A minor girl was allegedly abducted and gang-raped twice by two groups of men on the outskirts of Delhi, police said on Wednesday. The area, called Punhana, comes under Haryana’s Nuh district.
The incident from July 30 came to light after the father of the 15-year-old girl lodged a complaint with police, alleging that his daughter was kidnapped and raped by five men belonging to their locality, the Hindustan Times reported. A medical examination was also conducted and authorities recorded the teenager’s statement at the Nuh court on Tuesday.
The girl revealed to her parents on Monday that on July 30, one of the alleged perpetrators, who is known to her, kidnapped her and took her to an isolated place, said the station house officer from Pulhana, Kirshan Kumar.
“In her statement, she said the acquaintance had called two of his friends, who raped her and threatened her with a countrymade pistol against disclosing the incident to anyone. Later, she said that more people gathered near the spot. She asked two men passing by in a car to drop her home but, instead, they also raped her and left her on the outskirts of the village,” HT quoted him saying.
The girl’s father said he found her in a state of trauma on July 31 in their neighbourhood. Initially, she did not tell them anything but, after her parents’ repeated insistence, she spoke of her harrowing time. The family then approached the Punhana police station.
A poll of global experts last year said India was the world’s most dangerous country for women due to the high risk of sexual violence and being forced into slave labour. Government data also shows that reported cases of crime against women rose by 83 per cent between 2007 and 2016, when there were four cases of rape reported every hour.
No missing complaint was filed when the girl did not return home on July 30, police said.
A case has been registered under sections 34 (common intention), 363 (kidnapping), 366A (procuration of minor girl) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. The accused have also been booked under relevant sections of the Arms Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The investigation was transferred to the local women’s police station on Wednesday. “Teams have been formed and raids conducted at certain identified locations, but the accused are at large,” Kumar said to media.