Ghaziabad: Two arrested for raping 16-year-old girl

The Ghaziabad police on Sunday arrested two men, aged 45 and 48, for allegedly abducting a 16-year-old girl in their SUV and gang-raping her at an isolated location in neighbouring Hapur district on the night of July 27, senior police officers said on Monday

The Ghaziabad police on Sunday arrested two men, aged 45 and 48, for allegedly abducting a 16-year-old girl in their SUV and gang-raping her at an isolated location in neighbouring Hapur district on the night of July 27, senior police officers said on Monday.

Police said the accused, both residents of Pilkhuwa in Hapur, spotted the girl standing near a hospital in Masuri around 10pm on July 27 (Representational image)

Police said the accused, both residents of Pilkhuwa in Hapur, spotted the girl standing near a hospital in Masuri around 10pm on July 27. They allegedly offered to drop her home, but instead drove her via National Highway-9 to an isolated plot near Pilkhuwa.

According to investigators, the accused allegedly took the girl to a room on the plot, where they raped her. A couple of hours later, she was dropped near the spot from where they had picked her.

“The house of the 45-year-old suspect is near the spot from where they picked up the girl. The terrified girl did not go home out of fear and reached home only the next morning,” an investigator said.

Based on a complaint by the girl’s guardian, Masuri police registered an FIR under Section 70(2) (gang-rape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

In the FIR, the girl’s guardian said she had been taking care of the teenager after bringing her from her hometown in Bulandshahr in February 2024.

“I am taking care of her like my daughter... Around 4pm on July 27, the girl went out and did not return home. We started searching for her, but she could not be traced and returned home the next day. When I asked her about her whereabouts, she started crying and said that a white-coloured car arrived near the Masuri underpass, and two men asked her to get in. They did bad things to me after taking me to an unidentified spot,” the guardian stated in the FIR.

The guardian also told police that the complaint was lodged after a delay due to fear of social stigma. HT has seen a copy of the FIR.

Deputy commissioner of police (rural) Surendra Nath Tiwari said police formed multiple teams after receiving the complaint and traced the SUV using CCTV footage from the highway and surrounding areas.

“The vehicle’s registration number was identified through CCTV footage, following which the two accused were arrested. An FIR under the gang-rape provision of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant sections of the POCSO Act has been registered,” Tiwari told HT.

Assistant commissioner of police (Masuri) Sunil Kumar said the girl has undergone a medical examination and the investigation is continuing.

“A detailed investigation is underway. Any additional relevant sections will be added during the course of the investigation. The two suspects were arrested on Sunday,” Kumar said.