BENGALURU: Hanumanthanagar police on Thursday arrested a gang of five men on charges of a gang-raping a minor and abetting the act. The survivor came in contact with the accused on a social networking site.The arrested, Venkatesh, Chetan and Lekhan, residents of Srinagar, are aged between 23 and 25 years. A senior police officer said the prime accused, Venkatesh, befriended the 17-year-old student of first-year PU in a private college, and would force her to meet him. The girl would visit her grandparents’ house, and on January 17, went to meet him as per Venkatesh’s instructions.
Venkatesh and his friend Lekhan took her to their friends’ apartment in Guttahalli, where Chetan joined them. Three of them raped her, while three others stood guard outside the house. In the middle of the night, her grandfather woke up and noticed she was missing. He called her parents and the police, who started a massive search in the area. Meanwhile, the accused, who was bringing her home, realised that a search had been launched for her. Sensing trouble, Venkatesh dropped her near a bus stop in the early hours and fled.
Medical test result
The girl was found by the family and taken home where she revealed what had happened. A medical test confirmed that she had been sexually assaulted.The girl also informed the police that last November, Venkatesh had taken her in a car to a nearby park and gang-raped her with his friends Abhishek and Babu.
Based on her statement, they were booked under POCSO and charged with gang rape. One of the friends who was also involved in the crime is absconding, and efforts are on to find him, a police officer added.