14-year-old Chhattisgarh tribal girl out with male friend gangraped

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Kawardha: A 14-year-old tribal girl was allegedly raped by four unidentified persons in Chhattisgarh's Kabirdham district, police said on Monday.

The incident took place on Sunday night under the City Kotwali police station area of Kawardha town, the district headquarters, when the victim had gone out with a male friend, Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Shalabh Sinha said.

Some suspects have been taken into custody for questioning, but no arrest has been made so far, he said.

As per the girls complaint, the duo was intercepted by the four accused who grabbed her and asked her male friend to leave the spot after threatening him, he said. They dragged the minor girl to an isolated spot and took turns to rape her before escaping from the scene, the police officer said.

On hearing the girls screams for help, some locals contacted a police patrolling team which immediately reached the spot, he said. Subsequently, the girl lodged an FIR at the City Kotwali police station against the unidentified accused, he said. Based on facial descriptions of the accused provided by the girl, we are trying to trace them. We have taken some suspects into custody and their questioning is underway, Sinha said. Further investigation is on, he added.

Condemning the incident, the opposition BJP accused the Congress government to failing to maintain law and order in the state. Incidents of rapes, murder and loot are on the rise in the state and the Congress government has failed to check them, said Santosh Pandey, the BJP MP from Rajnandgaon. The rape of the tribal girl in Kawardha is very unfortunate and the accused are still at large, Pandey said and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.