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COIMBATORE: The all women police in Coimbatore on Sunday night arrested seven people, including four school students, for raping and impregnating a 15-year-old Class IX girl student of a government aided school. Police said the girl was repeatedly raped by 10 people since 2016.

They said the girl’s parents were construction workers and that she became friends with a student in 2016 and fell in love with him subsequently. However, the boy raped her repeatedly. Meanwhile, three other boys also became friends with her and raped her. Later, six youths from the neighbourhood also began sexually assaulting her repeatedly. But, she did not reveal it to her parents, who got to know about her pregnancy and took her to a hospital for an abortion.

Girl identified all 10 people who raped her

On Friday, her parents came to know that their daughter was pregnant and took her to a private hospital at Neelambur near here to abortthefetus.Thehospital refused to perform the abortion and advised them to take her to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), where she was admitted.

The girl went missing on Saturday evening. The hospital authorities informed the Coimbatore (east) all women police who traced her the same night. The girl told police she was repeatedly raped by the10 people, including the four students.

Based on her statement, police registered a caseunder sectionsof the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and arrested the seven people. On Monday, the accused students were lodged at a juvenile home at Lakshmi Mills junction and three other youths at the sub-jail in Avinashi. Police teams launched a hunt for three others.

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)

