Five persons of a village in Tharad taluka of Banaskantha were arrested on Sunday night for circulating MMS clips of the gang rape of a 17-year-old victim of the same village.

The girl was raped after being lured with a marriage proposal on March 9. A complaint was lodged with Tharad police station on March 24 when the parents of the girl, who had earlier kept quiet, filed the complaint after coming across an MMS clip of their daughter.

Sources said, in a joint operation by Special Operations Group (SOG) and officials of Tharad police station raided mobile phone selling and recharging units in Tharad and arrested Naresh Thakkar, Suresh Mali, Ashwin Patel, Ravatsinh Chauhan and Govind Mali on charges of circulating obscene MMS video clips of the rape victim. Police have also seized five computers and a dozen mobile phones from the shops.

The accused, meanwhile, remain on the run. According to the complaint, the victim, from Pathamada village, accused Hagaji Patel and Udesi Patel of the village. The plaint said that the girl was abducted by the duo on March 9 and was raped repeatedly for 20 days. The girl also alleged that the duo had filmed the act on a mobile phone and sold it to mobile recharging units.

“Fearing ignominy the victim and her parents had kept silent at first. On March 23, the parents saw a video clip of their daughter and were shocked, following which they lodged the complaint,” said an official of Tharad police station. 

Source