HYDERABAD: Two juveniles, accused of allegedly raping a schoolgirl in Hyderabad's Jubilee Hills last week, have been taken into custody, the police said on Saturday. One of them is the son of a local leader of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samithi party. An 18-year old was arrested on June 3. With that, of the five accused, three have been apprehended.
From all accounts, the parents of the accused have considerable political clout. From the word go, the opposition BJP has been alleging the involvement of leaders from the ruling TRS and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM; the BJP has also taken strong exception to alleged delay in arresting the accused.
Meanwhile, the apex child rights body NCPCR has sought an explanation from the Hyderabad police over the delay in the registration of FIR in connection with the gang rape.
The commission has also asked the police to ensure that the victim's identity is not revealed during the investigation.
According to police, the girl's father lodged a complaint on May 31 stating that she might have been molested; the 17-year-old could not disclose what had transpired in the vehicle as she was in a state of shock.
Accordingly, the police had initially registered a case of "outraging modesty;" this was altered to a rape case later.
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