Patna: A 13-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by 11 persons in Jharkhand state, leaving the public outraged. Nine of the total 11 accused are minors.

The incident took place last week, but was reported to the police on Thursday evening after the victim’s parents came to know about it.

Police said the teenage girl, a resident of Moffassil police station area in West Singhbhum district, was returning home after tending goats in the evening, when some men kidnapped her and took her to a nearby jungle, where they raped her in turns. The accused also threatened her with dire consequences if she reported it to anyone. The scared girl thus remained silent about the incident.

But on Friday, the girl’s parents finally got to know about the rape. She narrated her ordeal to her parents, who instantly rushed to the local police and registered a case. Police have arrested one of the accused so far; a search is on for the other accused persons, who are absconding. “The police have registered the complaint and are investigating the case,” a local police official, Digvijay Singh, told the local media on Friday.

This is the second big incident involving gang rape in the state, in the past 40 days. Earlier, in June, five women engaged in a social awareness campaign were kidnapped at gunpoint and allegedly gang raped in Jharkhand’s Khunti district.

The victims ­— aged between 18 and 22 — and associated with a cultural organisation, were launching a campaign against human trafficking and witchcraft which have claimed many lives in the state in recent years.

Reports said that the girls were part of a 11-member cultural team performing a street play at a local school, when miscreants arrived at the spot and ordered them into a car. Subsequently, they were taken to a nearby forest where the women activists were allegedly gang-raped at gunpoint. They were freed after a few hours.

Police said the rapists also shot a video of the entire act and threatened to upload the videos on social media if the women reported the incident to the police.