16-year-old girl gang-raped in Assam, accused share video on WhatsApp: Police

A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by six youngsters, including two minors, in Assam’s Chirang district and they recorded the crime and shared it on a WhatsApp group to blackmail her, police said on Wednesday, adding that they have arrested five of the six accused after the girl’s family lodged a complaint.
The alleged incident happened in Chirang’s Bengtol area near Indo-Bhutan border in August. However, the girl’s family members said they lodged the complaint later only as the girl did not reveal the incident to anyone as she was threatened by the accused boys.
“She is young and was traumatised by the threats. The boys tried to create pressure on her further when she revealed this to us,” said a family member.
Police said that an objectionable video was recently shared on a WhatsApp group, and it is suspected that the accused were trying to blackmail the girl with the video.
According to police, most of the accused are in their early 20s and they are from the same village where the victim lives.
“We have arrested five of the six accused, and one person is still absconding. Two of them are claiming that they are minors, but we are examining their birth certificates,” said Chirang superintendent of police (SP) Akshit Garg.
He said that a case has been registered under several sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and some other charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The investigating officers said that they have collected the evidence and also recorded the statements of the girl and her family members. “We are also interrogating the arrested persons, and further investigation is going on,” said an officer.
Locals in the village protested against the incident and demanded strict punishment for the accused.
“This is a serious matter; the culprits not only committed the crime but attempted to continue this further by recording a video. This has to be investigated properly, and strict action should be taken,” said a villager.