JOIN US Visiting a forest area on the outskirts of Belagavi with a male friend proved catastrophic for a teenage girl as six young men waylaid her and three of them gang-raped her.
The 17-year-old girl from Dharwad district and her schoolmate were visiting a hillock in the forests of Mutyanhatti village on the evening of February 15, 2017. A six-member group on a trip to the forest spotted the couple ensconced in an isolated area. The youths waylaid them and later three of them took turns to sexually assault the girl. Before that, the men beat up the friend and took him away.
The girl didn’t immediately file a complaint so as to protect family honour. She approached the jurisdictional Kakati police only on Monday evening. Police registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and took the girl to the district hospital for medical check-up.
Both the girl and her friend attend college in Belagavi. Four persons have been arrested and two are still absconding.