A 16-year-old Dalit girl was gangraped allegedly by five men at her house on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Monday, police said on Tuesday, adding that her brother and three children were held hostage at knife-point by the accused during the incident. Police said while one person was sexually assaulting the victim, others held her brother at the knifepoint to prevent him from raising an alarm (Representative photo)

According to Rachakonda police commissioner DS Chauhan, seven people were involved in the crime of which six have been arrested, while one remains absconding. The accused were identified as Abed Bin Khaled (35), Mankala Mahesh (20), M Narsing (23), Ashraf (20), Md Faizal (21) and Mohd Imran (20). “Efforts are on to arrest the seventh accused – Md Tahseen,” the commissioner said.

The Meerpet police booked a case against the accused under Sections 452 (trespass into the house to commit crime), 324 (voluntary hurt with dangerous weapons), 376-DA (gangrape of a woman under 16 years of age) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and also sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Chauhan said the girl and her brother , after losing their parents, moved to their cousin’s place at Nandanvanam Colony, under Meerpet police station limits, a week ago.

According to the complaint filed by the girl’s brother, the prime accused Abed had misbehaved with the girl on Saturday as well.

“At around 11am on Monday, Abid and his friends Ashraf, Tahseen, Mahesh and Narsing barged into the victim’s house. They threatened her at the knife point, dragged her into a bedroom by holding her hair and raped her by taking turns,” the police commissioner said.

While one person was sexually assaulting the victim, others held her brother at the knifepoint to prevent him from raising an alarm.

After committing the offence, they fled to Race Course Road, Malakpet and spent some time with their friends – Faizal and Imran. With their help, they fled to Humnabad town in Karnataka’s Bidar district, but returned to Hyderabad by Tuesday afternoon.

“We formed 12 teams of police personnel to track the movements of the accused. At around 4 pm on Tuesday, we arrested Abid, the prime accused,at Santoshnagar area, while he was going to Nandanavanam colony. Based on the inputs given by him, the police teams picked up others from different localities of the city,” Chauhan said.

He said the accused had confessed to the crime. “We seized a knife from the accused. We shall produce them before the court for judicial custody,” he added.

Earlier, L B Nagar deputy commissioner of police B Sai Sree said the victim had been sent to Sakhi centre for medical examination and recording her version.

The incident triggered an uproar in the locality on Tuesday. A large number of locals, including the Congress workers led by Meerpet municipal corporation mayor Parijatha Reddy staged a dharna on the main road, demanding stringent punishment to the persons who allegedly resorted to the gangrape.

The police arrested Reddy and other party leaders and shifted them to Amberpet police station. Police forces have been deployed in the area to prevent any breakdown of law and order.

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