The Bhagalpur police have arrested six people, and launched a hunt for the seventh accused, for allegedly gang-raping a Class 7 student several times. The minor girl was rescued on Sunday evening from a house in Jogsar area of the district.
“Acting on a tip off, the girl was rescued from a house after a raid. The police have so far arrested six persons allegedly involved in the incident, while search is on to arrest the seventh accused,” senior superintendent of police (SSP) Anand Kumar told HT over the phone on Monday.
Informing that the medical examination of the victim will be conducted on Monday, the SSP said a probe has been initiated after a case was registered based on the girl’s statement, who also revealed that she knew one of the accused.
The police have registered a case of gang rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and recovered objectionable items from the house.
Four persons have been identified as Kundan Kumar, Karan Kumar, Aditya Kumar (all residents of Banka), while Aman Kumar is from Naugachia.
“We are verifying the records of the two who were arrested on Monday,” the police said. All arrested people are within the age group of 18-19 years. They will be produced before the court on Monday.
According to her family members, the 13-year-old girl had left home on Friday informing her parents that she was going to the house of a friend. “She may have been tricked by the accused on the way,” the family members alleged.
“We came to know about the incident only after we received a phone call from a police official,” they said, adding “they thought she was in the house of her friend as she would often go and stay there.”