HYDERABAD : Neredmet police arrested 10 youths for allegedly drugging a 12-year-old and sexually assaulting her over a period of time. The girl is now six months pregnant and is currently admitted in a hospital to recover from the negative effects of the drugs, the police said.
According to the police, the survivor resides in Kachiguda and came in contact with two of the accused — Naresh and Vijay — through a mutual friend, who is also a minor. The duo befriended her over a virtual platform, lured her and then shared her phone number with the other accused.
Meanwhile, Naresh took the minor to Neredmet and reportedly offered her a cold drink mixed with ganja and sexually assaulted her. Thereafter, the other accused also contacted the victim and sexually assaulted her, the police said.
The police shared that the victim’s father died three years ago and her mother worked as a househelp. “She had discontinued her studies after fourth grade and was working with her mother as a househelp in houses at Kachiguda,” a senior police officer working on the investigation said.
“It looks like the girl was in contact with the accused for almost two years,” the officer added.
The incident came to light last week when the girl’s mother noticed changes in the minor’s body and after learning of the sexual assault, she filed a complaint at the Kachiguda police station.
“Initially, five youths were booked in the case. However, through interrogation, we learnt that 10 members had taken advantage of the girl at different points of time,” the officer said.
Of the 10 accused, seven of them have a criminal background, the police noted. They have a history of addiction to ganja and have NDPS cases registered against them.
The accused have been arrested under charges of gangrape and relevant sections of the POCSO Act and were produced before the court on Sunday.