Three arrested in Punjab for gang-rape of teenager

Chandigarh: Punjab Police have arrested three people, including a woman, in connection with the gang-rape of a teenaged girl, police said on Thursday.

The 15-year-old gang-rape victim, a resident of Punjab`s Ludhiana town, was forcibly taken to Himachal Pradesh`s district headquarters town of Una where she was gang-raped for two days. Una is about 75 km from Ludhiana. The accused have been identified as the victim`s aunt Manjit Kaur, a resident of Rajowal village in Ludhiana district, Manjinder Singh Aulakh, a resident of Jalandhar, and Ranjit Kumar, a resident of Kapurthala town. "On April 21, the victim`s aunt called her on the pretext of going for a shopping trip. She gave her Rs.100 and then sent her along with two others for shopping at a Jalandhar mall. However, instead of taking the girl to Jalandhar, the duo took her to Una where they gang-raped her," investigation officer Kamal Dutt said. The duo brought her back on April 23 and threatened her of dire consequences if she reported the crime. However, the victim told her parents about the incident Wednesday and they filed a police complaint, Dutt added. All the three accused have been arrested and would be presented in court Thursday, he said. Ludhiana is around 100 km from the state capital Chandigarh. IANS