Teenage girl gang-raped in Maha village, eight held

Palghar: A teenage girl was allegedly raped by eight men at a village in Palghar district of Maharashtra, following which the police have arrested all the accused, an official said on Sunday.

The incident occurred during the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, in which the accused raped the girl at an unoccupied bungalow in their beach village before taking her to the seashore, where they again sexually assaulted her, he said.

A case of gang-rape has been registered against the accused at Satpati police station, a spokesperson of Palghar district rural police said, adding that the victim was around 16 years old.

”In her complaint lodged on Saturday, the victim said that her ordeal began at 8 pm on December 16 that continued till 10 am the next day, during which the accused took her to an unoccupied bungalow in Mahim village where they took turns to rape her. Later, they also took her to the seashore where they again sexually assaulted her in the bushes,” he said.

Based on her complaint, the police arrested the eight accused in the early hours of Sunday and registered a case against them under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including 376 (D) (gang-rape), 366 (A) (procuration of minor girl), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said. Further investigation is on.