5 accused of “gang rape” of a 15-year-old girl returning from classes in Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: A case has been registered against five men for allegedly gang-raping a 15-year-old girl in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh on Monday evening.

The girl was on her way back from class accompanied by a male friend and the two had ventured into a nearby forest area when the defendant, aged between 20 and 40, intercepted them. They forcibly took the couple to a remote place near Kalyanpura village. While one of the attackers held the boy captive, the others dragged the girl deeper into the forest and took turns raping her, said officials at the Kotwali police station where the case was registered.

After the attack, the men also recorded a five-second video of the girl and boy and threatened to release the video if either of them reported the incident.

Read complete message

Speaking to ThePrint, Kotwali Police Station Superintendent Raghvendra Tiwari said that after the incident, the girl rode her scooter to the house of a relative who lived about 2 km away and informed him about the incident.

After the incident was reported to the police, a team reached her house where her statement was recorded and the girl was sent for medical examination.

A case under Sections 376 (rape), 376 (2)(m) (rape endangering the life of a woman) and 376 (d)(a) (gang rape) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 5-G and 6 of the Protection Act of Child Sexual Offenses (POCSO) were registered.

Shahdol district police commissioner Prateek Kumar said, “We had no idea who the accused could be as the girl did not know her. All the criminals of the place were rounded up and we learned that five people were missing. A team was formed to trace them and they were eventually detained near Umaria district.”

Police on Tuesday arrested the five accused in the case: Lallu Gupta (37), Sahil Qureshi (22), Kailash Panika (29), Shamim Akram (18) and Afsal Ansari (28).

“The investigation is ongoing. “Lallu and Kailash are habitual offenders with previous convictions for theft, looting and attempt to murder,” Tiwari said.

(Edited by Tikli Basu)

also read : Four receive death for killing a Muslim man and his wife and raping their nieces in 2016 as court rules out leniency