17-year-old girl gang raped by 4 in Gujarat's Jamnagar

A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang raped by four persons in Gujarat's Jamnagar region, said the police, adding that three of the four accused have been arrested and the search for the fourth one was on.

The incident occurred on September 28 but came to light only on October 2 after the victim approached the police to register an FIR.

The police said that the victim, who had been threatened by the accused, narrated her ordeal only after one of her relatives came to know about the incident and informed her mother.

Three of the accused -- Darshan Bhatia alias Buddho, his cousin Milan and Devkaran J Gadhvi -- have been arrested while the fourth accused, Mohit K Ambalia, is still at large. The accused have been booked under the Indian Penal Code Section 376 D (gang rape) and Sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

According to the FIR, the incident happened on the afternoon of September 28 when the main accused, Darshan, called the victim on her phone and instructed her to meet him near a medicine shop close to her house. At around 1:30 pm she left her house and met Darshan who then asked her to follow him. The FIR states that Darshan took the victim to the upper floor of a two-storey building where he allegedly raped her in a room and the other accused came one after the other to take turns.

"Apart from Mohit, we have arrested all the accused. The main accused (Darshan) knew the victim and had talked to her at least thrice in the last few weeks. The victim didn't inform her mother about the incident initially as she had been threatened by the accused. It was only after one of her relatives came to know about it and informed her mother then they approached the police," police sub-inspector RB Gadhvi, who is probing the case, told DH.

The victim's father passed away some time ago while her mother works as a daily wager to make ends meet. The victim has three sisters and a brother.

Independent MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani took to microblogging site Twitter to highlight the incident.

"Hathras in Gujarat as well. In Gujarat's Jamanagar, a woman has been gang raped. Gujarat is also ahead in women exploitation and rape. Creating infrastructure alone can't be called development. The country also needs social and cultural change," Mevani tweeted. He also tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is from Gujarat, in the tweet asking him to speak up.