ROURKELA: A scientific team on Sunday visited the crime spot for collection of evidence where two minor girls were allegedly gang-raped by a group of seven persons including four juvenile offenders at Silikujur village within Rajgangpur police limits of Sundargarh district five days back.
On Saturday, the three accused aged 19 years or more, were forwarded to the POCSO Court and later sent to judicial custody. Meanwhile, the four juvenile offenders were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) and lodged in the observation home in Rourkela.
Police sources said the minor rape survivors of Malidihi village, aged 13 and 14 years, are cousins and were attending a wedding ceremony at the nearby Silikujur village on April 24 when one of the accused who is reportedly an acquaintance of the minor girls, approached them and convinced the duo to accompany him to an isolated area where two other accused turned up and raped the girls. The next day, four other accused again gang-raped the girls at another location. The girls later narrated the incident to their parents after which a complaint was lodged with Rajgangpur police on April 28.
“All the seven accused including three youths and four juveniles were arrested within 24 hours of receiving complaint and produced in POCSO court and JJB respectively. Preliminary investigation suggests all of them raped the minor girls at many times over several hours during and after the wedding ceremony,” said SDPO Abhishek Panigrahi.