Three tribal girls, all minors, were gang-raped by a dozen-and-a-half boys in Jharkhand's Ulihatu village in Khunti late at night on February 21, according to police.
Police told media that five girls were travelling from Ulihatu to Nichitpur after attending a marriage ceremony near the Karo river when the 18 boys stopped them. Some of them allegedly gang-raped three of the five girls and molested the other two.
"All 18 boys have been arrested. All of them are minors. Those who are above 16 will be tried as adults," DGP Anurag Gupta said.
Khunti SP Aman Kumar said that all of the boys involved in the crime have been taken into custody and will be sent to an observation home in accordance with the law. “A large number of people from various nearby villages came together for the marriage ceremony, and while returning, the group of females was attacked by the youths."
"The accused even threatened to harm the girls if they discussed the occurrence. The girls told their parents on Saturday morning about the incident after which the parents filed a police complaint on Sunday at the local police station," he added.
Based on the statement of the girls, police have registered a case under sections 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 127 (2) (wrongful confinement), 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 109 (1) (attempt to murder), and 70 (2) (gang rape of women aged below 18 years) of the Bharitya Nyay Sanhita and sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault) and 8 (punishment for sexual assault) of the Pocso Act.
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