17-year-old in Ghaziabad gang-raped by 2 brothers for two years; 1 held

The arrested suspect was identified as Himanshu Kumar, and his elder brother Akash Kumar, who is absconding. They are residents of a locality falling under the jurisdiction of the Modinagar police station.

The Ghaziabad police on Saturday arrested a 20-year-old man for allegedly raping a 17-year-old class 12 student. According to the police, the arrested suspected and his 22-year-old brother had allegedly been assaulting the minor since the past two years after blackmailing her with a video clip. The police said that the family of the girl came to know about the video on Friday and approached the police with a complaint.

Police said that about two years ago, one of the accused raped the girl after calling her to his house, during which he also prepared a video clip of her. (AP)

The arrested suspect was identified as Himanshu Kumar, and his elder brother Akash Kumar, who is absconding. They are residents of a locality falling under the jurisdiction of the Modinagar police station. According to the police, the girl is also from the same locality and she and Himanshu allegedly knew each other. It was alleged that about two years ago, he raped the girl after calling her to his house, during which he also prepared a video clip of her.

“During initial investigation, it came to light that Akash allegedly came to know about the video later and then, about a year ago, both brothers called the girl to their house. Thereafter, they allegedly blackmailed and gang-raped her. They also threatened her not to reveal the incident to anyone. During the act, they again prepared a video. The police have about seven to eight different video clips which were allegedly prepared by the two suspects,” said Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, superintendent of police (rural).

“When the friend asked about the video, they allegedly sent him one of the videos purportedly featuring the girl. The friend kept the video with him. A couple of days ago, the friend and the two suspects got in a fight. In retaliation, the friend went to the girl’s house and showed the video to her family,” the SP added.

After seeing the video, the family asked the girl about the incidents and then later approached the Modinagar police.

Based on their police complaint, the police registered an FIR for under Section 376D (gang-rape) and also levied the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act against the two suspects.

The police added that Himanshu was arrested on Saturday while a police team is on the lookout for Akash who has been absconding. The two suspects are students, officers added.

“The girl is around 17 years and had been subjected to sexual assault since she was 15 years. The video purportedly shows that she was blackmailed by the two men and assaulted later. We will be taking strict action against the two,” SP added.