Express News Service By

Another incident has been added to the increasing list of crimes committed against women. A 19-year-old girl, who had come to the city five months ago to eke out a living, was gang-raped by four autorickshaw drivers Friday night at Rangapur locality in Manchal police station limits. The four have been arrested.

Police said the accused, Charan, Balakoti, Seetaram and Ravinder, had kidnapped the victim at Karmanghat.

The girl belongs to Devarakadra in Mahbubnagar district. It was learnt that the victim, who was working as a domestic helper, was intoduced to Charan a week ago by a common friend.

A few days ago, she sought his help in securing a house on rent in the city.

Using that pretext, Charan called the victim on Friday and asked her to meet him at Karmanghat. After she reached the place of meeting, Charan and the three others forcibly took her in an autorickshaw to Rangapur.

Manchal inspector T Venugopala Swamy said around 10.30 pm Friday, cops detained the vehicle in which they were travelling during checks. Noticing the girl critically injured, they questioned her, after which she revealed that the four had raped her.

“After Charan and Balakoti committed the offence, the girl had fled the clutches of the accused, but they, however, caught up with her and beat her up. They were returning to Rangapur locality to abandon her,” police said.

The accused confessed to their offence. A case under section 376 (2) (g) (gang-rape) and 109 (abetment of murder) of the IPC was registered against the four.

The victim was shifted to a government hospital, where she is undergoing treatment.

Her health condition is said to be stable. More than three rapes had taken place in the last week in and around the city.