Gwalior: A 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a youth who had befriended her on social media and his three friends in a car in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district, police said on Monday.
Police have invoked provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act since the victim is a Dalit, an official said, adding that nobody has been arrested so far. The incident occurred on November 21 but a complaint was lodged four days later as the girl kept mum because she was threatened by the accused against disclosing the incident, an official said.
Additional Superintendent of Police Niranjan Sharma said the girl and her family lodged a complaint at Old Chhaoni police station. "The girl became friends with a youth on Facebook last year. On November 21, her male friend took her to a deserted forest area in a car where he and his three friends raped her and also threatened to kill her," he said.
A case was registered under sections 376 (Punishment for rape), and 377 (unnatural act) among others, along with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. According to sources in police, the victim has claimed that one of the accused is a close relative of a politician.
