15-year-old girl allegedly kidnapped, raped by two youths in Aligarh

Police defused a potential communal flare-up in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh town on Tuesday after a minor girl was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped by two men of another community, officials said.

The accused were arrested on Tuesday, a day after they allegedly kidnapped the 15-year-old girl who was on her way to her maternal grandparents’ house at Hathras, about 35km from Aligarh.

Anuj Kumar, the station officer of Delhi Gate police station, identified the accused by their first names — Suhail, 21, and Imran, 23.

Police booked them for kidnapping and rape and besides stringent provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act.

The girl was rescued by local residents who were alerted by her shout for help on Tuesday morning when the accused were allegedly trying to take her to an unidentified location.

The survivor told police the two had taken turns to rape her overnight at an apartment in Upper Kot, a locality in Aligarh.

Police said the accused had offered the girl a ride on their motorbike to Hathras. But when she declined, they allegedly pressed a piece of cloth soaked in an unidentified chemical to her nose which made her unconsciousness.

As news of the incident spread, people from both communities gathered at the police station. BJP leader and former mayor Shakuntala Bharti, accompanied by party activists, also reached the police station.

However, police managed to pacify the people by promptly arresting the suspects.