BENGALURU: A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped for four hours by a gang of five after they thrashed and tied her boyfriend to a tree.
The incident occurred near here around a week ago, but came to light only on Tuesday when the victim and her boyfriend, both students of a private college, approached the police after the miscreants repeatedly threatened and blackmailed them.
According to police sources, the incident occurred when the couple had gone to a hill near Kakati, about 5 km away from Belagavi, at around 5 pm on February 15.
According to the complaint of the victim, the gang had followed them and accosted them at an isolated location. They beat up the boy and tied him to a tree and then took turns to rape her in front of him. The ordeal continued for about four hours, the complaint stated.
After the victim, who is from Dharwad, filed a complaint with the Kakati police station, a case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act was registered.
Following this, the police arrested three people -- Sanju, Mahesh and Suresh -- all from Kakati village. The victim has been sent for medical check-up at the district hospital. Deputy Commissioner of Police G Radhika visited the hospital and met the victim.
The boyfriend told the police that they were assaulted by five to six youths and one of them recorded the entire incident on a mobile camera. He said the record must be 15 minutes long.
He said they decided to file a police complaint after the miscreants started to blackmail them. They threatened to upload the video clip on social media and demanded money to hush up the matter. Police are interrogating the arrested trio and are on the lookout for the others.