E-Paper
Schoolgirl gang-raped by 5 after party in Hyderabad
The police have, thus far, arrested two people, both aged 18, while the other three, who are all juveniles between the ages of 16 and 17, have also been identified.
A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped in the Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad after she went to a party organised by her school classmates on May 28. The incident first came to light on May 31, when the victim’s father registered a complaint of molestation. This however, was modified to sections pertaining to gang rape on Friday after the girl revealed to police counsellors that she was sexually assaulted by five people in a vehicle.
Late on Friday night, Hyderabad police revealed that they arrested two people, identified as Saduddin Malik (18) and Omer Khan (18), while three other people, who were all juveniles between the ages of 16 and 17, have also been identified, one of whom is the son of a “high profile leader”.
Police officials said that the 17-year-old, a Class 12 student of a popular public school in the city, was invited to a party at Amnesia and Insomnia Pub at Road No. 36 of Jubilee Hills on the afternoon of May 28. The party was hosted by classmates, primarily from classes 11 and 12, and saw an attendance upwards of 150 people. The FIR, first registered by her father on May 31, said, “At about 5.30pm, a few boys took her out in a red-coloured Mercedez Benz car, with one Toyota Innova car which was yet to be registered following them. Later, they misbehaved with her and even inflicted minor injuries over her neck,” the FIR said.
The report, quoting the father, said the girl was in deep shock and unable to disclose the exact version of events. “The father chose to lodge a complaint with us only after three days at 8pm, after realising that something had happened to her, as she had not recovered from the shock even after two days,” Hyderabad (West Zone) deputy commissioner of police Joel Davis said.
He said that according to the standard operating procedure, the police sent her to the Bharosa Centre, a cell of the city police which counsels victims of abuse, on June 1. “The counselling team and higher officials of the department consoled her and gave her a lot of confidence, before beginning to gather details. It was only late in the evening that she elaborated about the sexual assault by five people she had faced in a car,” Davis said.
The senior police officer said that they initially filed a case against the accused under Section 354 (outraging the modesty) of the Indian Penal Code, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, based on the father’s complaint. On Thursday, however, the police changed the first information report (FIR) to add Section 376-D (gang rape) and Section 323 (causing grievous hurt) of the IPC, and sections under the Pocso Act, following her deposition.
Davis said that after they recorded statements, they began to gather technical evidence, as the girl was not acquainted with four of the accused. “She was not acquainted with four of the accused and thus she could not give us their names immediately. She did however reveal one name and taking that as the lead, our teams started working in the last 48 hours to apprehend the accused,” he said.
A special task force constituted by the department swung into action, collected CCTV footage and call data research (CDR) analysis, and went through other technical aspects, corroborating at each stage with the girl’s statement.
“Based on the evidence, we have identified the five accused. We will continue to probe the involvement of others, based on further inputs to be given by the victim, after she recovers from the trauma,” he said.
“Apart from the two arrested adults, another accused, a juvenile, was also taken into custody, but as per the law, we cannot arrest a juvenile at night. So, we will formally arrest him on Saturday morning,” he said. Two other minors who have also been identified, officials said.
“One of them happens to be the son of a high-profile leader. We cannot disclose the names of the juveniles. We shall arrest all of them within the next 48 hours,” Davis said.
Reacting to reports that did the rounds all day of the involvement of the son of a legislator from the old city, the police said that thus far his involvement was not proven. “But we shall continue to probe further and if we find any evidence to that effect, we shall not spare anybody, whoever he might be or whatever high connections he has,” Davis said.
The DCP said that while the victim left the pub in a red Mercedes, the alleged gang rape took place inside the Toyota Innova in an area not very far from the pub. Davis also said that they were probing if there was any violation of the law by the pub that hosted the party for the students. “The evidence that we collected, including the CCTV footage, does not show the serving of alcohol or cigarettes. Yet, we will continue to investigate all aspects,” he said.
