THANE: A 17-year-old girl from Kalyan in Maharashtra's Thane was allegedly raped by seven men in their twenties over a period of five months after one of them befriended her on social media, officials said.
All the accused were arrested and produced before a local court, which sent them in eight days of police custody on Tuesday, they said.
The crime came to light after the victim's family members found her objectionable videos circulating online, an official said.
The victim, a college student, first met one of the accused persons on Instagram in April this year. Their friendship soon turned into a relationship.
He would videograph their sexual encounters without her consent.
He then shared these objectionable videos with six of his friends, the official of Mahatma Phule police station said.
These six friends were from well-to-do families in Murbad and Bhiwandi areas of the district.
All of them started blackmailing the girl and sought sexual favours from her with the threat of posting her objectionable videos on social media platforms if she did not relent, he said.
They started sexually assaulting her and this harassment continued for five months, he added.
The incident came to light after the victim's parents found her obscene audio and video clips circulating online.
The girl then shared her ordeal with her family.
All of them approached the police and lodged a complaint, the official said.
Following their arrest, the seven accused were presented in the Kalyan district and sessions court, which remanded them into police custody for eight days.
The medical examination of the victim found that the victim was pregnant.
The accused are now also facing charges under the Protection of Child Sexual Abuse Act (POCSO).
A police team under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner of Police Atul Zende is investigating the case.