Hyderabad police arrest one accused in minor gang-rape case

Six days after a minor girl was allegedly gang-raped by five teenagers in a car in the posh Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad, the police announced the arrest of one accused.

The ghastly incident took place last Saturday, when the 17-year-old girl went to attend a party at a pub.

The accused, allegedly including the son of an AIMIM MLA, had befriended her and took her away with them in two vehicles.

The police action and announcement of the case details were followed by protests by the BJP and a tweet by Telangana's IT, industries minister K T Rama Rao asking the home minister Mahmood Ali, DGP Mahender Reddy to “take immediate and stern action” in the case.

“Outraged and shocked with the news of the rape of a minor in Hyderabad. Please don’t spare anyone involved irrespective of their statuses or affiliations,” KTR said.

Late in the evening, West Zone DCP Joel Davis addressed a press conference and said that one of the accused who is 18 years old has been arrested by the police.

Out of the five accused, three are juveniles.

“One of the juveniles is the son of a VIP. So far we have not found any evidence against the said MLA's son. But the investigation is on,” Davis said.

One juvenile in conflict with law would be arrested on Saturday morning.

The sexual assault on the girl took place in an Innova car, in which the five took her to a secluded spot.

While BJP MLA Raghunandan Rao alleged the involvement of home minister Mahmood Ali's grandson too, Davis stated the charges as “utterly baseless.”

Meanwhile, stating that they have no faith in the TRS government, T-BJP chief Bandi Sanjay demanded CBI investigation into the episode.

“We are not agitating because the victim is a Hindu girl, we will do the same for justice if she was from any other community,” Bandi said while questioning Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's silence.

Several BJP workers who sat on a protest at the Jubilee Hills police station demanding action against the culprits were taken into custody by the police.