Maharashtra: All 31 men accused of raping 15-year-old girl arrested

The Maharashtra Police on Monday said that all of the 31 men accused of raping a 15-year-old girl for nine months in Maharashtra’s Thane district have been arrested, ANI reported. Two boys were detained in this case last week.

“One more accused arrested by the police,” the Maharashtra Police said in a statement. “All 33 accused, including two minors, have been arrested. The two minor accused have been sent to Child Correction Home.”

Meanwhile, the teenager was discharged from the hospital on Saturday, The New Indian Express reported.

The case had come to light on Wednesday, when the teenager approached the Manpada Police in Dombivli city.

The offences were committed between January 29 and September 22. The main accused person is a friend of the girl. He had allegedly raped her in January and made a video of the sexual assault.

“He started blackmailing her on the basis of that video,” Additional Commissioner of Police Dattatray Karale had said. “Later on, his friends and acquaintances gangraped her on at least four to five occasions at different places, including Dombivli, Badlapur, Murbad and Rabale [cities] in the [Thane] district.”

The girl had told her aunt of the sexual assault last month, following which she took help of a social worker to bring the accused persons to book.

On Wednesday, six of the accused called the minor girl to a lodge in Murbad in Thane. She shared her live location, which the aunt shared with the police.

The police initially had arrested two men from the lodge. The rest were arrested after their statements were recorded along with the girl’s account.

The accused have been booked under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rape, as well as sections of the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act.

A special investigation team has been formed to investigate the case.