Two minor sisters gang-raped by 8 youths, including cousin

Photo used for representational purposes

In a horrific incident, two minor sisters were gang-raped by eight people, including their cousin, on May 31 in Chhattisgarh. The incident came to light on Wednesday when one of the girls, who was being continuously blackmailed by the youths and their friends, broke her silence.

According to a report in Times of India, on the night of May 31, the victims were out with their male friends when a group of youths, who were in an inebriated state, stopped them at around 2 am and beat up their male friends. They threatened and abused the male friends for taking out girls from their village. The group chased away the male friends of the victims and the girls were left behind.

"On Wednesday, the two sisters approached women helpline, and then the police was informed. The two sisters, aged 14 and 16, were secretly out with their two male friends for a bike ride on the night of May 31, without the knowledge of their parents," Baloda Bazar SP Indira Kalyan Elsela was quoted as saying.

Elsela added, "After chasing away their male friends, the accused threatened the girls of complaining to their parents about their night out ride. When the girls pleaded and asked the youths to spare them, they grabbed the victims by their hair and took them to the roadside. They took turns on both the girls for over two hours and as the area was too deserted, the victims' screams could not reach out to the residents. Later, the girls were abandoned and they walked down to their home."

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However, the torture didn't stop. In these two months, the youths used to stalk the victims in the village, call them, and threatened them of circulating the video if the girls didn't meet them. On July 29, the girls received a call from an unknown person, who is a friend of the accused. He claimed of having the video and blackmailed the victims to sleep with him.

Upon realising that they were being trapped, the girls sought help from women helpline number.

Baloda Bazar police on Thursday arrested 11 accused, including two minors, from different locations. Besides eight main accused, the police have also arrested two male friends of the victims, who were liable to report the crime, and another youth who called and threatened the girls. Two of the arrested persons also have a history of involvement in a murder case. The police have also seized the video recording of the rape incident from the mobile phones of the accused. All the accused are aged between 17-25 years and are school dropouts.

The accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

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