Hyderabad minor gang-rape: Opposition mounts attack on TRS government and police, seeks CBI probe

The Telangana police on Saturday apprehended two juveniles, among the five boys accused of raping a minor girl in Hyderabad a week back.

The shocking incident of a 17-year-old girl raped by five boys, three of them juveniles, in a car, came to light only on Friday – six days after the offense. They had befriended the girl who went to attend a party at an upscale pub in Jubilee Hills and took them away with her to a secluded spot on the pretext of dropping her home.

The K Chandrasekhar Rao government and the city police are facing flak for not acting swiftly in the case, which allegedly has the involvement of the sons of a AIMIM legislator and chairman of the Telangana Waqf board.

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It is only after a tweet from the IT, industries minister and KCR's son K T Rama Rao on Friday evening asking the police to act “sternly, not sparing anyone involved irrespective of their statuses or affiliations” that the case details were made public.

The police, who said that they have identified the five accused persons, three of them juveniles, arrested one Saduddin Malik (18) on Friday.

“In continuation of the arrest, two Children in Conflict with Law were apprehended today and are being produced before the Juvenile Court for their safe custody. Efforts are continued to apprehend the remaining two accused who are absconding,” west zone DCP Joel Davis said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the T-BJP produced some photos and videos which said to be from inside the Benz car to establish the role of teenagers from influential families linked to AIMIM, a friendly party of the ruling TRS.

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The BJP and the Congress are mounting pressure on the TRS government, calling the gang rape a reflection of the deteriorating law and order situation and rising crimes against women in Telangana. The opposition is also blaming “the unchecked pub culture in Hyderabad” for such crimes.

Charging that the police department is attempting to defend the culprits, T-BJP chief Bandi Sanjay wrote a letter to Chief Minister Rao demanding a CBI probe of the case to unravel facts, “if the government believes it did nothing wrong.”

A delegation of BJP leaders also met DGP Mahender Reddy asking for a CBI probe. “The delay police have shown in arresting the identified accused after the victim's confession gives room for suspicion,” their representation said.

Congress activists who tried to stage a protest at the DGP office were detained by the police.

The Jubilee Hills police had initially registered an FIR under IPC section 354 (force against woman outraging her modesty). They added sections 376(D) – gang-rape – and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, after the victim's statement.