Three men allegedly abducted a nine-year-old girl and gang-raped her after committing theft at her home at Dahikana village in Odisha’s Ganjam district on Wednesday night. The victim, a student of Class IV, was admitted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur with grievous injuries.

According to the complaint, the girl told her parents that she woke up to find a man carrying her on his shoulders. Two other men were accompanying him.They threatened to slit her throat if she raised her voice. She was allegedly taken to a nearby field and gang-raped by the three men.

The father of the victim said he woke up around 3 a.m. to find the front door of his house open and his daughter missing. The thieves had also taken away ₹20,000 cash, a pair of gold earrings, the father alleged. He raised an alarm following which the accused fled, leaving the girl behind. His neighbours located the girl crying in the field around 200 metres away from the house, the father said.

Additional SP, Ganjam, P.K. Mohapatra said two special police teams have been formed to nab the culprits. One platoon of police force has been deployed at the village to check possibility of escalation of tension because of the gruesome act. Ganjam Superintendent of Police Brijesh Kumar Rai also rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.