Two teenage sisters, aged 15 and 16, were allegedly gang-raped by eight men in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district on Sunday night, police said on Monday.
The survivors are in a critical condition and undergoing treatment at a government hospital. Six people have been arrested, and efforts are on to nab the remaining, police added.
The incident took place in Husainganj area at 11.30 pmon Sunday.
Providing details, Fatehpur superintendent of police (SP) Rajesh Kumar Singh said the girls’ family alleged that the two teens, along with their younger brother and sister (aged 12 and 13, respectively), were returning home from a fair when they were cornered by the accused on Katri road, around 2km away from their home.
The accused subsequently dragged the four siblings to a nearby field where they took turns to gang rape the older siblings while keeping the other two hostage, the SP said.
After the accused fled the spot, the two teens and their siblings walked back home around 2.30 am andtold their family about the incident. The family subsequently dialled the women’s helpline, 1090, for assistance.
One of the survivors told the police that the accused men molested other girls during the fair and took away their mobile phones. “On the way back home, they followed and overpowered us near a tube well and dragged us in the field,” the police said quoting the survivor. “They gagged us so that we couldn’t scream...and raped us one by one and ran away,” the survivor said, according to an officer.
{{/usCountry}}One of the survivors told the police that the accused men molested other girls during the fair and took away their mobile phones. “On the way back home, they followed and overpowered us near a tube well and dragged us in the field,” the police said quoting the survivor. “They gagged us so that we couldn’t scream...and raped us one by one and ran away,” the survivor said, according to an officer.
{{/usCountry}}The two survivors were later admitted to a government hospital for treatment and are in a critical condition, police said.
Fatehpur superintendent of police (SP) Rajesh Kumar Singh, who visited the village in the early hours of Monday, said six people have been arrested on the basis of the teens’ statement and efforts are on to nab the remaining two.
“A first information report has been registered and the accused have been booked on charges of rape, assault, intimidation under the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act,” he said.
A villager on the condition of anonymity said that the police arrangements for the fair “were not up to the mark” . “The roads were left unattended, and not a single policeman was deputed at desolated spots,” said the villager.
After the gang rape incident came to the fore, one of the girls from the fair approached the police and told that she knew one of the accused who was from an adjoining village. Based on the information, the police detained the accused and later traced five others also. All the accused, aged between 22 and 26, were identified by the survivors who are currently undergoing treatment in the hospital, said police.