TIRUCHY: Five people, including two minors, were held on Tuesday for the alleged gang-rape of 16-year-old girl in Thanjavur.
The incident happened when the girl from a village in Thanjavur went to her grandmother’s house in the neighbouring village during a temple festival on August 30. There a man from Manamelkudi in Pudukkottai, an acquaintance of the girl’s grandmother, also came to the village to take part in the festival. He allegedly took her to a secluded place and sexually abused her with the false promise of marriage.
Meanwhile, seeing him and the minor girl, four people, including two boys aged 15 and 17, followed them and picked up a quarrel with the man and allegedly sexually assaulted the girl.
The girl managed to escape the gang and informed her mother about the incident, and the latter lodged a complaint with the Sethubavachatram police. Based on the complaint, the police registered a case.
On Tuesday, the police arrested the four, and also the man who lured the girl, under the Pocso Act. The men were produced before the court which remanded them in custody, while the minors were lodged in the government observation home in Thanjavur.