Picture for representational purpose only.

BAREILLY: Two minor cousins, aged 17 and 14, were allegedly stripped and gang-raped by five youths here recently. The incident came to light only on Thursday when the family reported the matter to police after one of the accused uploaded a video of the crime on social media.

According to police, the girls were on their way to school on November 17 when a local youth Waseem and his friends Savez Khan, Akhlaq Khan, Arif and Amir Khan whisked them away to an abandoned cane field on the outskirts of the village at gunpoint. They then stripped the girls and raped them while shooting a video of the episode. They also threatened to share the video on social media if they lodged a police complaint.

Based on the complaint, police collected a copy of the viral video and registered a case under IPC sections 376D ( gang rape ), section ¾ of Pocso Act and section 67 of Information Technology Act against the five accused.

Bareilly SSP Shailesh Pandey said, “The complaint was registered by the father of one of the survivors. The video of the assault was shared on social media by one of the accused on Thursday. We have filed an FIR against the five accused. Teams have been constituted to arrest the accused at the earliest. We are trying to ensure that the video is not shared on social media platforms any further.”

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

