5 held for gang-rape of minor in Seraikela-Kharsawan district

JAMSHEDPUR: Five persons, including a juvenile, were arrested on Wednesday on charges of gang raping a 16-year-old girl in Seraikela-Kharsawan district on November 6. Four of the accused were sent to the Seraikela jail and the juvenile was sent to the remand home on Thursday, police said.

Four of the accused are in the age group of 18 to 20 years, while the minor is 16-year-old.

The girl, in her police complaint lodged on November 8, alleged that she had gone out with her boyfriend on November 6. The boyfriend left her at a place and went home to fetch warm clothes. Meanwhile, five boys approached her and introduced themselves as friends of her boyfriend.

The five accused then took the survivor to the banks of Kharkhai river on the pretext that her boyfriend was waiting for her there. They forced themselves upon her and sexually assaulted her one by one. Her boyfriend arrived after the accused left the spot. The survivor narrated the ordeal to him but rather than going to the police, he dropped her home. She disclosed the horrific incident to her parents on the next day, she told police.

A police officer said an FIR was lodged under relevant sections of the Pocso Act. "The girl has been admitted to the Seraikela Sadar Hospital (SSH) for medical test," he said.

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)