Pune City Police, while investigating the ‘missing persons case’ of a 14-year-old girl, got the information that she had been gang-raped after she was abducted from Pune Railway Station on 31 August, Indian Express reported.
Wanwadi police station senior inspector Deepak Lagad said, "During the investigation of the missing person complaint, we traced the girl on Sunday. The girl told the police that she was abducted and raped," news agency PTI reported.
He noted that “the girl is being treated at a hospital. She has suffered serious mental trauma and is being provided all possible assistance.”
While two of the eight arrested earlier are railway employees, the others are auto-rickshaw drivers.
On Tuesday, 7 September, six more accused were arrested by the police. A court has sent them to custody for nine days, news agency ANI reported.
A total of 14 accused have been arrested so far.
The inspector said that the girl had come to the station to travel to another place to meet a friend.
"The accused auto-rickshaw drivers spotted the girl and understood that she was alone. They told her that the train she was looking for would be available the next day. They asked her to accompany them by promising to make arrangements for her accommodation for the night," senior inspector Deep Lagad was quoted as saying by PTI.
The inspector added that the minor was subsequently taken to multiple places and raped by different people.
A police official was quoted as saying, "The girl was also raped in the rickshaw and even on the premises of the Railways office. The suspects also threatened to harm her and her family members as they continued to subject her to sexual abuse.”
Meanwhile, a case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code sections 363 (kidnapping), 376DA (gang rape of a woman under 16 years of age), 377 (unnatural offences) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Indian Express reported.
Renu Sharma, Divisional Railway Manager of Pune, said that the two Railways employees involved in the crime were immediately suspended after their names were revealed on Monday.
(With inputs from The Indian Express, NDTV and PTI.)
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