At least 29 people, including two minors, gang-raped a 15-year-old girl at different locations over the last eight months in Maharashtra's Thane.
According to India Today, the incident came to light when the survivor approached the Manpada police station in Dombivali and filed a complaint on Wednesday, September 22.
Police officials have, so far, arrested 24 youths and detained the two minor boys. They are conducting searches to nab the rest of the accused.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a woman officer of the rank of assistant commissioner of police, has been set up to investigate the case, as reported by The Indian Express.
The Horrific Incident
The survivor had become friends with one of the accused minors on social media. He had allegedly assaulted her and recorded the act on his mobile phone in January.
The video was used as bait to blackmail the girl, forcing her to meet the other men who raped her on different occasions. She approached the police officials and narrated her ordeal.
An FIR has been registered under Sections 376 (rape), 376 (n) (repeated rape), 376 (d) (gangrape), and 376 (3) (rape on a woman under sixteen years of age) of the Indian Penal Code, and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Reports have stated that the accused named by the girl in the complaint were in the age group of 16-23 years. They were known to the survivor and had sexually assaulted her on various occasions at Dombivali, Rabale, Murbad, Badlapur, and few other places
The girl has been hospitalised and her condition is reportedly stable. Meanwhile, the police is investigating the electronic evidence gathered from the accused.
NCRB Data
As many as 77 rape cases were reported from across the country every day in 2020 which took the total to 28,046 incidents, according to the data by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Of the total victims, 25,498 were adults and a staggering 2,655 were minors, reported The Times of India.
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