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MUMBAI: A 15-year-old girl was gang-raped by two men after they tied her friend to a tree in a desolate spot in Virar (East) late on Monday evening. The description of the perpetrators given by the girl suggests that one of them could be an auto driver , police said.

The Class IX student’s father lodged a complaint with Virar police on Wednesday. The crime happened around 8pm on Monday when the girl was on her way to a relative’s place. As she met a school friend (16) on the way and started walking on a deserted road, two men — one hefty, the other lean — accosted them. The duo dragged them to a desolate spot behind the school.

According to the police, the hefty man rained blows on the boy, tied him to a tree and warned him against raising an alarm. The duo then dragged the girl behind some bushes and raped her.

Cops said the assailants left after warning the girl and threatening to kill her friend. The girl managed to free her friend and they reached her home where she narrated the incident to her parents. The boy’s parents were also informed and the families informed the police on Tuesday.

A case of gang-rape (IPC section 376D), voluntarily causing hurt (IPC 323), criminal intimidation (IPC 506) and under other sections of the Pocso Act was registered.

The girl said both men were wearing brown trousers, usually worn by auto drivers, and one of them had a triangular badge attached to his trouser. The teens, however, did not see any vehicle with the men.

Police have started questioning auto drivers in the area based on the description provided by the teens. Both the girl and her friend have been sent for medical examination.

