Seven arrested for gang-rape of teenage girl in Bengal’s Purulia
Seven people have been arrested in connection with the abduction and gang-rape of a teenage girl in West Bengal's Purulia district, senior police officers said on Monday.
Kolkata: Seven people have been arrested in connection with the abduction and gang-rape of a teenage girl in West Bengal’s Purulia district, senior police officers said on Monday. The police have registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO). According to police and family sources, the teenage girl is from Purulia town. On Friday evening, the 17-year-old girl left her home to go to a friend’s house. When she did not return home even after nightfall, the family started to worry about her. Finally, the girl’s father filed a kidnapping complaint at the Purulia Sadar police station.
Upon receiving the complaint, the police immediately launched an investigation. The girl was rescued later that night. During questioning, the minor girl narrated her horrific ordeal and mentioned that she was abducted and subjected to sexual assault. The girl told the police that she was walking down the road at night when seven or eight young men stopped her.
She was forcibly taken from the road to a field near the railway tracks, where she said that she was gang-raped. After the ordeal, the girl somehow managed to return home. That’s when the police found her. The girl was taken to a hospital for a medical examination immediately after the incident came to light. Based on the girl’s statement, the police conducted searches in various locations. On Sunday, the police arrested seven young men who were allegedly involved.
One of them fell ill and was admitted to the hospital. The remaining six were produced before a court. “After making the arrest, the six were produced before the Purulia District Court yesterday. They have been remanded to judicial custody for seven days. The remaining one accused is undergoing treatment at the hospital. He will be produced in a court once he recovers,” said a senior officer of Purulia district police. Meanwhile, the teenage girl is scheduled to record her confidential statement before a magistrate on Monday.
