Schoolfriends, relations and neighbours are among the many dozens of men arrested for the rape of a teen in India.
An 18-year-old girl in Kerala has spoken out concerning the horrific sexual abuse that she suffered within the last five years.
A complete of 58 men and boys have been arrested and accused of her sexual assault, rape and gang rape.
One other two men wanted in reference to the case have fled the country, it was reported.
Those accused, who range between 17 and 47 years, include married men and at the very least five students from her college and former classmates from her school.
There are also 4 minors and two others who were minors on the time of the crime, further complicating the investigation, India’s News Media outlet reported.
One in every of the primary to be arrested was a person named by local media as Subin, who allegedly initiated the abuse when the victim was only 13.
They were friends from childhood, and lived in the identical neighbourhood in Kerala.
The now 24-year-old allegedly sexually assaulted her and recorded images and videos of her, which he used to threaten her into providing sexual favours for a friend.
Police said this friend brought in two more men, who further exploited the teenager.
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Over the following few years, her contact details and pictures were spread amongst different circles of men and boys.
Police say that the victim was allegedly gangraped thrice prior to now five years.
Rajeev, chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee in Pathanamthitta, told local media: ‘Word could have spread from one man to a different, to their circle of friends or colleagues.
‘Quite lots of the accused are from her neighbourhood and every day wage labourers, but there are others too. We were shocked to listen to her name so many men.’
Her alleged abusers reportedly used her father’s phone number to contact her and the lady stored their contacts within the phone. The police at the moment are using the phone to trace them.
In line with police, they forced the victim to satisfy her at different places, including inside an abandoned bus at a stand in Pathanamthitta and secluded corners of the local general hospital.
The allegations emerged in January, sending shockwaves through the Dalit community in Kerala that the girl is an element of.
India’s 166 million Dalits are amongst probably the most marginalised residents within the country and the stigma they face stays evident to at the present time.
Basically, they proceed to survive under inhumane, degrading conditions. Around 80% of them live in rural areas.
A 2020 report by the NGO Equality Now found that sexual violence is utilized by dominant castes to oppress Dalit women and girls.
They are sometimes denied justice due to a ‘prevalent culture of impunity, particularly when the perpetrators are from a dominant caste.’
Even when Dalit women report sexual abuse, they face an uphill battle to justice.
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