Tribal girl gang-raped in Chhattisgarh, 4 youths arrested

A 20-year-old tribal girl was gang-raped allegedly by four youths, including a minor, in Chhattisgarh’s Balrampur district, police said today.

All the accused have been arrested, they said.

The accused, identified as Rohit Gupta (26), Abhishek Gupta (19), Sourabh Gupta (22) and a minor, were apprehended by Chalgali police yesterday based on a complaint by the victim, SHO Chalgali police station Amrendra Tandon said.

As per the complaint, the victim, a native of Manikpur village, had gone to nearby Kerta village to watch an orchestra performance on Friday (October 23) night, which ended late in the night.

During the programme, the accused, who were also present there, allegedly passed lewd comments on the girl and molested her, Tandon said.

The accused then followed the girl to her friend’s house in their SUV and as she got into the house, they dragged her out and took her in their vehicle.

They later took the girl to a secluded place where they allegedly raped her, the SHO said.

Before abandoning her on a road, they also threatened her not to reveal the incident to anyone, he said.

Initially, police were reportedly reluctant to lodge a complaint or register an FIR in this connection.

However, they later registered the case after Congress MLA from Ramanujgunj Brihaspati Singh reached police station and pressurised the cops.

The accused have been booked under IPC sections 376 D (gangrape), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 450 (house-trespass), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and relevant sections of SC/ ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the police officer said, adding that further probe is underway.