Kerala police arrest 44 males after teenager alleges rape for five years

Police in India’s southern state of Kerala have arrested 44 males accused of raping an 18-year-old woman over a interval of 5 years, a police official stated on Tuesday, in a case that has shocked the coastal vacationer resort.

The sufferer, an athlete who belongs to the so-called decrease caste group often known as Dalits, instructed police in a press release that she was sexually abused by 62 individuals over a interval of 5 years.

Police have recognized 58 of these males, a few of whom are minors and arrested 44 during the last two days, officers stated.

“Now we have recognized the remaining 14 and they’d be arrested quickly,” the Deputy Superintendent of Police within the Pathanamthitta district the place the crimes befell, PS Nandakumar, instructed Reuters.

The case got here to mild after the woman narrated the gang rape to a volunteer throughout a gender consciousness programme. Nandkumar, who heads the investigation, stated particulars of how the crimes have been dedicated have been nonetheless being investigated.

In her assertion to the police, the sufferer stated abuse started when she was 13 after her neighbour allegedly raped her.

Native media reported that 4 of the accused have been minors.

Underneath Indian legislation, accused in rape instances that contain decrease castes don’t instantly get bail. Reuters was not capable of attain any of the accused for a remark.

There have been greater than 31,000 reported rapes in 2022 in India, the newest 12 months for which knowledge is offered, and conviction charges are notoriously low.

The rape and homicide of a trainee physician within the jap metropolis of Kolkata prompted outrage throughout the nation final 12 months, with protests and avenue marches calling for motion towards the accused.