
A 16-year-old schoolgirl who went missing from Hyderabad's Narsingi on Monday was found inside a flat in Chengicherla, allegedly raped by three, including two juveniles. Police rescued the survivor on Wednesday after a search operation. A 24-year-old accused, who has a suspect sheet against him, has been arrested and sent to jail. One of the minors has been remanded to a juvenile home, while the third accused remains absconding.
The survivor, a Class 8 student, was acquainted with one of the arrested juveniles, who worked as a salesperson at a footwear shop in Charminar. The two first met on February 7 and continued speaking over the phone. On February 16, after school, the girl went to Madina to meet him.
Later that evening, the two other accused allegedly joined them and took the minor to an empty government double-bedroom apartment in Chengicherla. Police say the trio confined her there, sexually assaulted her, and forced her to consume alcohol at knife point.
"During medical examination it was found that the survivor suffered injuries to her private parts," police said.
The case surfaced after the girl failed to return home from school. In her complaint, the mother said the minor, who lived with her maternal grandmother, who works as a caretaker, in a housing society in Narsingi had left for school at 8 am but never returned.
"My daughter usually gets home by 4 pm. But when she did not come back, my mother alerted us. We rushed from Shaheen Nagar to her place and searched for her in the surrounding areas. We also made enquiries with relatives and her friends, but could not locate her," the girl's mother stated in her complaint.
Following the complaint, police registered a kidnapping case under Section 137(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and launched an intensive probe. Teams examined CCTV footage, analysed mobile phone records, and gathered local intelligence inputs to track the suspects.
Their efforts led them to a government double-bedroom flat in Chengicherla, where the girl and two of the accused were located.
"The 24-year-old accused is a habitual offender with eight previous cases, including robbery, theft and assault. He also has a suspect sheet against him at Rein Bazaar police station," said Ch Srinivas, DCP, Serilingampally, adding that they will seek custody of those arrested for further questioning. The survivor's statement will also be recorded before the magistrate.
Officials revealed that a crucial breakthrough came from a phone call the survivor made to the juvenile accused using a local shopkeeper’s phone in Narsingi.
"We tracked that number to locate the survivor and eventually rescue her," an official said.
Police are continuing their search for the third accused as the investigation progresses.
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