In a heart-wrenching incident, a 15-year-old girl was gang-raped by 29 people, including two minors, over the course of nine months in Maharashtra’s Dombivli, the police said on Thursday. Based on the complaint of the victim, the police have registered a case against 29 people. So far, the police have arrested 26 accused under the POCSO Act and the search is on remaining accused.

Thane police has said that a case has been registered against all the 29 accused under sections 376 (rape), 376(n), 376(3), 376(d)(a) of IPC and POCSO Act. Thane Police has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the matter.

It all started when the lover of the girl raped her in January and made a video of the incident. He started blackmailing her on the basis of that video. Later on, his friends and acquaintances gang-raped her at least on four to five occasions at different places, including Dombivli, Badlapur, Murbad and Rabale in the district, Additional Commissioner of Police (East region), Dattatray Karale said.

ACP Karale said seeing the increasing cruelty of the accused, the plucked up courage and disclosed the whole incident by reaching Manpada police station in Dombivli on the evening of 22 September. Hearing her ordeal, the police were also shocked. He said on the basis of the complaint of the victim, gang-rape that took place between January and September 22.

ACP Karale said the accused had also created a WhatsApp group for the purpose of repeatedly raping the minor. All the accused would plan the rape through WhatsApp group and pressurize the minor to come to them. After this, they used to gang-rape her by taking her at different loactions.

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The victim lodged a complaint with the Manpada police station. Reports said many of the arrested accused are influential and associated with many political parties. 

ACP Karale said the investigation of the case has been handed over to ACP Sonali Dole. However, he himself and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sachin Gunjal will closely monitor the case.

In other India news, India’s only individual gold medallists in the Olympics, Neeraj Chopra and Abhinav Bindra met on Wednesday at Bindra’s residence. The Beijing Olympics gold medallist hosted Neeraj for lunch at his residence in Chandigarh. Bindra gifted a small puppy named ‘Tokyo’ to Tokyo Olympics gold medallist.

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