New Delhi — Police within the southern Indian state of Kerala have arrested 49 of 64 males accused of sexually abusing an 18-year-old lady during the last 5 years. The lady, who has not been recognized, has reportedly advised investigators that she was sexually abused and gang raped a number of instances because the age of 13.
The males accused of the assaults embrace a childhood pal of the lady, together with neighbors and household pals, police advised CBS News’ accomplice community, BBC News. There are at the very least 5 college students from her school and former classmates from her college among the many accused, in keeping with Indian outlet The News Minute.
The majority of the accused are themselves both youngsters or of their early 20s, in keeping with The Times of India.
“Forty-nine folks have been taken into custody,” Pathanamthitta district Deputy Superintendent of Police Nandakumar S. advised the AFP information company on Wednesday. “We have recognized the remaining 14 and they’d be arrested quickly.”
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The alleged abuse began 5 years in the past when the lady’s neighbor allegedly molested her and took sexually specific pictures and movies, which he then shared with others and used to blackmail the lady as he continued to abuse her.
Police have advised Indian media retailers that the lady was allegedly gang raped at the very least 3 times over the previous 5 years.
The alleged abuse got here to gentle final month when a group of counsellors working underneath a authorities program visited her home.
“She was given counselling, and he or she opened up earlier than a psychologist, narrating the sexual abuse she has been dealing with because the age of 13,” N. Rajeev, head of the nationwide Child Welfare Committee, was quoted as telling the Indian Express.
The Kerala Police have tasked a group of 25 officers with investigating the allegations.
At least 18 instances have been registered in relation to the lady’s alleged abuse to this point underneath varied Indian legal guidelines — together with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act — which is meant to forestall crimes towards folks from the decrease castes and tribes in India’s centuries-old social hierarchy.
The sufferer of the mass abuse in Kerala is a member of the Dalit neighborhood, which is the bottom caste in India. Dalits have faced widespread discrimination and abuse for a few years.
Criminal instances have additionally been registered underneath the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, as nearly all of the alleged abuse occurred when the lady was a minor, Deputy Superintendent Nandakumar advised the BBC’s Hindi language service.
The horrific scale of the alleged abuse has drawn nationwide headlines in a rustic the place a mean of virtually 90 rapes had been reported daily in 2022, the latest 12 months for which nationwide information is out there. Many extra are believed to go unreported.
