One person has been arrested in the Hyderabad gang-rape case of a 17-year-old girl inside a Mercedes car on Saturday evening, said the police. Out of five people identified, three are minors, the police added.
Joel Davis, West Zone DCP, said the accused have been identified as per CCTV footage and as per the statement of the victim. He further added that the allegation that the Home Minister's son-in-law is involved is baseless.
"Victim couldn’t reveal anything about culprits. She only revealed one name & spl teams were immediately formed to nab them. CCTV footage recovered. We've identified 5 culprits as per CCTV footage and as per the statement of the victim," Davis said.
"Out of the 5 culprits that were identified, three are minors. One accused Saduddin Malik has been arrested. The allegation that the Home Minister's son-in-law is involved, is baseless," he added.
"For one juvenile in conflict with law, we could get specific lead. Because of nighttime, we could not apprehend him, I'm hopeful that we will be able to apprehend him tomorrow. He is the son of a VIP," said Davis.
"There were a lot of allegations in the media on MLA's son. As per the statement of the victim, CDR analysis, and the CCTV footage, he was not among those 5. We are still investigating for further evidence," he added.
The matter came to light after the minor girl's father submitted a complaint with the police regarding the incident that took place under the Jubilee Hills police station limits on May 28.
The case was registered under Sections 354 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 9 read with 10 of the POCSO Act.
"The rape case was registered based on the complaint of the victim's father. Subsequently, after the victim's statement, we altered the sections and added sections 9 and 10 of the POCSO Act. Around 5 accused are involved," Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Zone) Joel Davis told news agency ANI over the phone.
"She is not in a position to identify the accused, so we are in the process of identifying the accused zeroing through other technical details. Prima facie, accused are also juvenile," he added.
According to the complainant, on May 28, his daughter went to a party at a pub in Jubilee Hills which was hosted by her friends.
"At about 5.30 pm, she was taken out of the pub by a few guys in a car. Later, they misbehaved with my daughter and assaulted her, she has minor injuries on her neck. Since then my daughter is in deep shock and unable to disclose the things exactly," read the complaint.
(With ANI inputs)
