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A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by four men in suburban Borivali on Monday night, the police said on Tuesday.
Three of the four accused were arrested on Monday night and were produced before a court today, which has remanded them to police custody until December 2, the police said.
According to the police, the victim who is a school dropout from Uttar Pradesh, resided in Ganpath Patil Nagar slum in Borivali. The girl, who lived alone in the house after her mother abandoned her, was being taken care of by her close male friend.
"She left the house at about 8.30 pm on Monday to buy some food for herself, when she was allegedly intercepted by an auto-rickshaw driver Sonu Kamble, who was known to her," an officer at the MHB Colony police station said.
Kamble dragged the girl into a mini tempo parked on Link Road. Later, he was joined by his two of his friends, Jaiprakash Pal and Aslam Khan, who are also auto rickshaw drivers.
The trio took turns and sexually assaulted her, the police said, adding that, "Another person, who found something amiss in the tempo, reached there and he also raped the victim".
Hearing the girl's screams, a passerby caught Jaiprakash who was leaving the spot and handed him over to a cop patrolling the area. "The girl told the cops that she was raped by Jaiprakash Pal and three others," the officer said.
A manhunt was launched for the accused on Monday night after which Sonu and Aslam were apprehended, while the fourth accused is still at large, the police said. The accused have been booked for gang-rape, among other charges under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Image: The accused being taken away by the police.
Photograph: Sahil Salvi