17-year-old girl abducted, drugged, raped by three

Nagpur: A minor girl walked into MIDC police station on Monday night, alleging that she was abducted, injected with a drug and gang-raped by three youths. Acting swiftly, MIDC police nabbed all three accused within 12 hours of the incident being reported. The complainant had appeared for her Std XII board exam and was currently preparing for entrance exams. The incident took place in the jungle area at Isasani near MIDC on Monday evening. The accused arrested have been identified as Rakesh Patel (26), Mohan Verma (18) and Akash Dupare (19), all residents of Rajiv Nagar. Police said Patel, the mastermind in the case, is a driver. The minor girl’s family had hired his four-wheeler twice recently for family outings. Since then, Patel knew the minor and had an eye on her. In her statement to the police, the survivor said she was walking to a friend’s house near her residence to enquire about coaching classes for entrance exam on Monday evening when a four-wheeler stopped near her and the youths dragged her inside. DCP Zone I Shailesh Balkawde said the three accused had covered their faces with scarves to hide their identity and hence the girl could not provide a description of any of the accused. Police said the trio took her to Isasani jungle, where they injected her with some drug. The minor fell unconscious and the trio raped her one by one. “Thinking that the minor had died, the trio rushed her to a nearby hospital, where the girl regained consciousness. The accused then took her back, and left her near the CRPF gate,” said police. The girl told police that she walked to a relative’s house, where she narrated the entire incident. The relatives informed her parents, who took the girl to report the matter to police. On receiving the complaint, senior police inspector Anil Katkade, head constable Laxman Shende, and constables Amit Patre, Nilesh Wadekar, Rajendra Sengar and Rajkumar Deshmukh, who were on patrolling duty, immediately began the investigation. Balkawde said that though the minor had not seen the culprits’ faces, she could identify Patel’s four-wheeler. She told police about the four-wheeler and cops came to know about Patel’s role in the crime. The police team interrogated some of his friends. One of them helped police contact Patel. As instructed by the police, Patel’s friend called him and said that he had met with an accident and needed immediate help. When Patel reached MIDC area to help the friend, police nabbed him. After questioning Patel, police arrested the other two. Though the cops have arrested the accused, they said it is still not clear whether the minor was injected with a drug or not. Police are waiting for medical reports to ascertain the truth.