Minor rape case accused sent to five-day police custody
PUNE Two youths, aged 20, who were arrested for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl studying at a college in Koregaon Park, were produced in the court on Friday which granted them five days of police custody.
On Thursday, two men were arrested and two minors detained on charges of raping the girl, whom they befriended on social media. The incident came to light during a session on sexual offences against children organised in the college.
The accused allegedly sexually assaulted the teenager separately at different places in the city and on the college premises between April and September and posted the videos online.
Police said they have seized the mobile phones of the accused and sent them for technical analysis to check the claims.
“As of now we do not have any evidence of the videos posted online, but we are investigating the claims,” said a a senior police official.
Police also refuted allegations made by Congress MLA Ravindra Dhangekar who said that the college management including trustees had tried to hush up the matter instead of helping the victim and her family.
Dhangekar said, “Police should investigate if drugs were given to the victim before raping her.”
Refuting all allegations, Smartana Patil, deputy commissioner of police of police (zone II), said, the issue came to light during a a session on sexual offences against children organised in the college.
“There was no use of drugs in the case. As far as college management is concerned, they approached us when they came to know about the incident and accordingly, we have taken necessary steps,” said Patil.
The college authorities informed the police about the incident on September 24 after which the parents were called, and a case was lodged at Koregaon Park police station against the accused under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on the same day.
According to police, initially, the parents of the victim were not willing to file a case due to fear of social stigma.
