Maha: 16-yr-old Dalit girl raped by 10 persons; five arrested

A 16-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped by 10 persons for over six months in Maharashtra's Solapur district, police said on Wednesday.

Five of the accused have been arrested under Indian Penal Code Section 376-D (gangrape) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual offences Act (POCSO) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, they said.

The incident came to light after some locals saw the girl crying outside a temple in the city on Tuesday and alerted the police.

"The girl was disturbed, but after the police took her into confidence, she narrated the ordeal. A case was subsequently registered and five out of the 10 accused were arrested," a police official at Solapur said.

The girl and some of the accused were friends. They were later joined by other accomplices in the crime, she said.

The accused, among whom some are auto-rickshaw drivers, forcefully took her to various places over six months and allegedly raped her, the official said.

A case has been registered against them at Vijapur Naka police station here and search for the other accused is on, she said.

The girl's father died sometime back and she was staying here with her mother, who did odd jobs to earn livelihood, the police added.