A minor girl in Hyderabad was raped by a group of boys in a luxury car on May 28, and the police have now registered an FIR in the case. The girl attended a party at the Amnesia & Insomnia pub in Jubilee Hills, hosted by two of her friends. At the pub, she met a group of boys who are the suspects in the rape case. On May 31, the girl’s father filed a complaint with the Jubilee Hills police saying she was taken out of the pub by a few boys in a car, who misbehaved with her and inflicted minor injuries on her neck. At the time, the girl was in deep shock and unable to disclose the exact details of what happened.
According to the father’s complaint, his daughter went to a party at the pub on the afternoon of May 28. Around 5.30 pm, she was taken out from there by a few boys in a red coloured Mercedes bearing the number TS09 FL6460, with some boys in the group coming in an Innova with a temporary registration number. “Later on they misbehaved with my daughter and even inflicted minor injuries over her neck. Since then my daughter is in deep shock and unable to disclose the things exactly,” the initial complaint has said.
Based on this, a case was registered under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 9 and 10 of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Later, the girl was sent to a Bharosa support centre where she was counselled and assured by senior women police officers; she was then able to share further details, Joel Davis, West Zone DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police) told TNM. Based on her statement, police have added rape charges to the case.
However, the girl was not in a position to reveal the identity of the accused, and could only reveal one name, the DCP said. “We had to do a background investigation, and technical and footage analysis. We are in the process of identifying and apprehending the accused persons,” he added.
Meanwhile, amid outrage over the incident, the Telangana BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) has released a media statement alleging that three of the five boys involved in the sexual assault incident are sons of an AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) MLA, a chairman of a minority board, and a TRS leader. BJP Telangana spokesperson K Krishna Sagar Rao alleged that the Hyderabad police haven’t apprehended the accused yet due to the involvement of an AIMIM MLA’s son, and insinuated that the police were under political pressure from AIMIM and TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samithi).
A police officer familiar with the case told TNM that while a politician’s son was seen getting into the car in which the rape allegedly happened, CCTV footage showed him getting out soon afterwards. Police are investigating the exact sequence of events to ascertain the nature of the involvement of the politician’s son in the incident. As most of the accused persons are also minors, police are waiting to verify details from multiple sources before proceeding further, the official said.