india

Updated: Jun 30, 2019 07:05 IST

A 17-year-old girl was allegedly accosted while she was returning from school on Friday and raped by three men in a car in Bihar’s Saran district,the police said on Saturday. One suspected was arrested and the two others were yet to be traced, the police said.

The girl was headed home on a cycle when the suspects stopped her on Friday afternoon and dragged her into a car. She was thrown out ont Basant Road, about 4-5kms away, said Harikishore Rai, superintendent of police (SP) of Saran district. The condition of the girl was described as serious.

The alleged rape dovetails with growing criticism of the Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance(NDA) government of Bihar by political rivals for failing to control increasing crime in the state. The state government has also faced flak for failing to control an outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome that has left at least 155 children dead in Muzaffarpur and adjoining areas.

“The men were in an i10 car when they stopped the victim and dragged her. She was let after more than an hour,” said a police officer aware of the case, asking not to be named.

The girl was roughly 4-5km away from home when she was attacked, the official said, adding that she informed her parents using the mobile phone of a passerby at the spot where had been thrown out.

The SP said that the case was under the jurisdiction of the Bheldi police station, and the girl had been taken for a medical examination. There were five people in the vehicle, and the alleged rape is believed to have been carried out by three, he added.

According to the officer quoted above, the girl was taken to a bigger facility in Chapra for her medical examination and treatment. “There are three named suspects and raids are being carried out to apprehend them,” the official added.

“This is one more examples of poor law and order,” said opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Mirtunjay Tiwary.