5 boys kidnap 14yo girl, gang-rape her; cops initially asked family to ‘settle matter with accused’

Pilibhit: Four teenagers, including a minor, were arrested on Saturday for the alleged brutal gangrape of a 14-year-old girl in Pilibhit. The accused, four of them aged between 18 and 19 and the fifth aged 16, forcibly took the girl to a secluded place and sexually assaulted her with the 16-year-old filming the act, police said, adding, "all of them are students".The crime took place on Jan 21 and the mother of the traumatised Class VIII student filed a complaint the next day. As per villagers, some local cops tried to initially "settle the matter by asking both sides to compromise", but when the 14-year-old's family spoke about taking up the case with seniors, they relented. Both the accused and the survivor are from the same village. An FIR was later registered at the local thana. SHO Sanjiv Kumar Shukla confirmed the arrest of four while one is at large. The survivor was sent for medical tests on Saturday, and "the report is awaited". SHO Shukla added the accused will be prosecuted under BNS sections 70 (2) (gangrape) along with sections 5-G (penetrative sexual assault by gang on a child) and 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of Pocso Act.In her complaint, the mother stated: "One of them called my daughter around 11pm, telling her that there was something urgent. So she went out, only to find another boy with him. They were joined by others who repeatedly violated her. A 16-year-old captured the act on his mobile. When my child returned home, I was shocked to see her in that condition..."