While six people were arrested on Friday, nine more were arrested on Saturday, a day after five first information reports (FIRs) were registered at two police stations in the district, police said, adding the cases were registered based on the statement of the survivor.
“Pathanamthitta superintendent of police VG Vinod Kumar has formed a special investigation team to carry out the inquiry. A detailed investigation is underway,” a senior police officer said.
In her statement to the police, the survivor, a district-level athlete, said she was abused by 62 individuals, starting with her friend, who is her neighbour, at the age of 13. Some of the accused in custody are friends of the accused and the police are looking to ascertain whether the woman was gang-raped by the suspects, an officer said.
Her detailed statement will be recorded by a woman sub-inspector of Pathanamthitta police station, officials added.
Explicit photos and videos of the woman, allegedly recorded by a “friend”, were used to threaten her and subject her to repeated abuse over the years. The explicit material was also allegedly shared among perpetrators, police said.
In her statement to the police, the woman said she used her father’s mobile phone to communicate with the suspects and at least 40 people have been identified by the police after verifying the phone details as well as information from the diary in her possession, a senior police officer said.
“This is a rare and disturbing case of prolonged exploitation, made even more significant by the victim’s resolve to document her abusers, enabling a comprehensive investigation,” the senior police officer investigating the case said, requesting anonymity.
Besides relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) pertaining to rape and sexual abuse, the police have also invoked various sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, a top police officer from the district said.
The survivor first confided in the Snehitha Gender Help Desk under Kudumbashree in Pandalam. She was then referred to the district child welfare committee and later to the Nirbhaya shelter home in Konni, where she narrated her ordeal to the psychologists, who recorded her testimony, police said.
An official of the Pathanamthitta child welfare committee (CWC) said that people from outside the district might also be involved in the case.
The woman has been a victim of sexual exploitation since the age of 13. As it was an unusual case, she was referred to a psychologist for more in-depth counselling, CWC chairperson told a local news channel. The CWC also revealed that several phone numbers of potential suspects were found on her father’s phone.
A total of five FIRs have been registered in connection with the rape incident allegedly involving several people and more FIRs will be filed and more arrests will take place, police said. The issue came to light during the 18-year-old’s counselling by the CWC, which was alerted by the survivor’s teachers about noticeable changes in her behaviour.
With agency inputs
