Girl sexually abused by 38 still undergoing counselling: Police

A 17-year-oldgirl, who recently disclosed that she had allegedly been sexually abused by 38 persons, is stillundergoing psycho-social counselling, police said on Tuesday. The girl was being counselled at the state-run Nirbhaya Centre here and there was no plan to send her back home, considering her safety, the police said.

Based on the girl's disclosure in November last, a total of 29 cases had been registered so far and 20 persons arrested in this connection, a top police official said. "We have registered 13 and 16 cases separately.

Of the total 40 accused, 20 have already been arrested and weare on a hunt to trace 20 more accused,"district police chief Abdul Karim U told PTI. Of the arrested 20, 15 went out on bail and five were remanded, he said.

He said mother was the lone close relative the victim had and it was not safe to send the girlback home.

"The victim continues to undergo counsellingat the Nirbhaya centre. Ifhigher-ups seek any report from us in this regard, we will object to sending her back home to join her mother due to safety reasons. We take into considerationher mental condition also," the officer added.

The teenager's ordeal came to light during a counselling session at the Nirbhaya centre recently, police said. The girl had been sexually abused in 2016 when she was 13 and then a year later.

After the second incident, she was sent to the Child Home and allowed to go with her mother about a year ago. According to the police, the girl was missing for sometime after she was released from Child Home and was traced to Palakkad in December last and brought to the Nirbhaya centre. During counselling sessions, she informed the Nirbhaya authorities about the series of sexual abuse and molestation she had been exposed to.