New Delhi:
In a shocking incident, a 16-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by six persons, including three minors, for over 5 days in Andhra Pradesh's Ongole town. The matter came to light after the girl, hailing from Guntur district, managed to escape from the room where she was locked up.
The girl had come to the town on June 16 and was waiting for her friend at the RTC bus station when one of the accused befriended the girl and took her to a room where he and five of his friends allegedly took turns to rape her and it continued for five days.
The girl managed to escape from their clutches on Saturday and reached the bus station. An on-duty home-guard Venkateswarlu and Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Babu Rao found her crying and took her to the police station where she revealed the shocking story.
Based on her complaint, police launched a manhunt for the accused and nabbed them from different parts of the state.
One of the accused was nabbed at Bitragunta in SPS Nellore district while he was trying to board a train, Prakasam District Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kaushal.
Four of the accused are engineering students, he added. All the accused have been booked under POCSO Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code. Meanwhile, the girl has been shifted to RIMS Hospital in Ongole for treatment and her condition was stated to be stable.
The incident has stirred up a row over the safety of women in the state with Home Minister M Sucharita promising stern action. Minister B Srinivas Reddy visited the hospital and assured that the government would ensure early and stringent punishment to the accused.
