A 24-year-old woman was allegedly raped by nine people in Telangana earlier this week, the police said on Tuesday. Eight of them were arrested on Monday night in the state's Mahabubabad town, while one was at large.
Six of the nine accused were minors. The other three have been identified as Hussain, Raghu and Kishan.
According to the police, three days ago, the woman hailing from Kothagudem district came from Hyderabad and alighted at the Mahabubabad railway station. As she didn't have sufficient money to go to Amanugal village, she phoned her acquaintance who asked her to meet him at a locality some distance away.
She then took an autorickshaw to the spot. There, the acquaintance, an auto-driver, and his friends took her to a nearby mango grove and raped her one after another, the police said.
Some passers-by noticed this and informed the village sarpanch. However, when he reached the scene, the culprits had fled. Later, the victim's father lodged a complaint and the eight were arrested barring one.
Speaking to reporters, Mahabubabad District Superintendent of Police N Koti Reddy said, "We will complete investigation as soon as possible and file a chargesheet after gathering technical evidence and reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL)."
Citing other cases that the state witnessed recently like the rape and murders of Disha* and Samatha*, the senior police official said, "We will ensure that a special fast track court is set up for this case as well, so that the judgement is delivered speedily."
Stating that the police had cracked the case within 24 hours, the SP said that the police had seized cellphones and bikes from the possession of the accused.
A case has been registered and further investigation is underway.
Just last week, a special court in Telangana's Nalgonda district sentenced a man who was found guilty in a triple rape and murder case to death.
Marri Srinivas Reddy from Hajipur village was convicted for raping two minor girls from Hajipur village, he was found guilty of murdering and burying three of them.
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PTI inputs