Jharkhand horror: 18 boys held for gang-raping 3 tribal girls, molesting 2

RANCHI: Three minor tribal girls were raped and two others molested by several minor boys in Rania block of Khunti district. The crime was a stark reminder of the 2018 gang rape of five women in Kochang block of the same district.Police have detained 18 minor boys in connection with the incident and took them for a medical test to confirm their involvement in the crime.Though the crime occurred on Friday night, police came to know about it on Sunday after the girls' parents filed a complaint. On Monday, Khunti SP Aman Kumar said, "The incident took place around 9.30 pm on Friday when the girls aged between 13 and below 18 were returning home in a group from a ‘lota-pani' (a marriage-related function) in a village. The perpetrators surrounded the girls and committed the crime."Kumar further said they have detained all minor boys involved in the crime and they would be forwarded to an observation home under the rules. All boys underwent the medical test on Monday, he said. According to the police, many people from several surrounding villages gathered for the marriage ritual and while returning home, the group of girls was assaulted by the perpetrators and fled. The culprits also threatened the girls with dire consequences if they talked about the incident.However, the girls informed their parents on Saturday morning. The parents then approached the local elected representatives after which they filed a police complaint on Sunday. 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.It may be mentioned that five women were gang raped in Kochnag on June 19, 2018, creating a national uproar. In May 2019, a court sentenced a priest, Alphonse Aind, for disrobing and kidnapping the rape survivors, and the main perpetrators of the crime, namely Junas Munda, Ayub Purti and Baji Samad, and two abettors — John Jonas and Balram Samad — to life imprisonment in the case.