One person has been arrested in the gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl inside a car last week in Hyderabad, said the police. Out of the five people identified, three are minors, it added.
The crime in the heart of the Telangana capital, allegedly involving children and grandchildren of politicians driving luxury cars, has triggered howls of protest. The police said that the home minister's grandson is not involved.
"Victim couldn't reveal anything about culprits. She only revealed one name and special teams were immediately formed to arrest them. CCTV footage recovered. We've identified five culprits as per CCTV footage and as per the statement of the victim," said police officer Joel Davis.
The security footage showed the girl standing with the suspected attackers outside the pub where she had met them. The boys had offered to drop her home. Instead, she was assaulted inside a parked car in an upscale neighbourhood in the city. Her attackers took turns to rape her while the others stood guard outside the car.
A huge protest at a police station last evening saw shouting BJP workers being carried away by policemen.
The police initially registered a case of "outraging modesty" based on the girl's father's complaint. It was changed to a rape case later.
"Her father approached us. According to whatever he told us we filed a case of outraging modesty and under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences). He was not sure what happened, the girl was not in a position to reveal anything," police officer Joel Davis told NDTV.
Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao has requested the state Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali, DGP and Hyderabad City Police Commissioner to take immediate and stern action in the rape case and asked them not to "spare anyone involved irrespective of their statuses or affiliations".
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha expressed confidence in the Telangana police and expresses concern for the women's safety.
"In the sad and shameful incident where a minor was raped, we stand by the family. I am confident Telangana Police will get to the bottom of it. We have a track record of Zero Tolerance when it comes to Women's safety," K Kavitha posted on Twitter.
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