Four more arrested in connection with teenager's gang-rape

Four more persons have been arrested in connection with the alleged gang rape of 17-year- old Delhi-based girl, who was taken to Jaipur by her neighbour on the pretext of providing a job.
The four accused -- identified as Pradeep (25), Farooq (25), Akbar (28) and Razzaq (28) -- were arrested by a special team of Delhi Police on September 9 and 10 in Jaipur, a senior police officer said today.
With the arrest of the four persons the total number of people arrested in the case rose to 10.
On September 1, the girl had approached the police and reported that she was taken to Jaipur on the pretext of job by a married couple - identified as Rocky and Rani - who were her neighbours at outer Delhi's Mongolpuri area.

The couple lodged her at a hotel near the main bus terminal in Jaipur, where she was allegedly raped by at least 10 men.
The girl managed to escape from the hotel and came back to Delhi within 24 hours after which she reported the matter to the police.

Rocky and Rani were arrested immediately and -- once they confessed to have sold off the girl to Jaipur -- they were sent there with a special team to identify the other accused persons.
"Soon four persons - identified as Mahesh (manager of the hotel), Anil, Arjun and Kamal - landed in the police net," said DCP (Outer) Vikramjit Singh.

According to the police, the girl - whose father is a vegetable vendor - needed a job urgently to meet the daily needs of the family. She approached the couple Rocky and Rani, living in her neighbourhood, as they had claimed to have given jobs to several women in Delhi-NCR and nearby cities.
On August 30, the duo took the girl to Jaipur and lodged her at a hotel, where the manager, Mukesh, and his associates allegedly raped her in turns until the girl managed to escape from the hotel and reached Delhi by a bus on August 31.
"The matter was reported at Mongolpuri police station on September 1 by the minor and a case was registered under Sections 372 (selling minor for purposes of prostitution, etc) and 376 G (gang rape) of IPC and relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act," said the senior officer.

During investigation, it also emerged that the hotel, where the incident took place, was earlier raided by police for aiding prostitution rackets, the official added.