POLICE in India have arrested 49 men for the repeated sexual abuse of a teenager over several years, officials told AFP on Wednesday.
The victim, now 18, is a Dalit, a community often targeted for sexual violence in a country with high rates of crimes against women.
The abuse reportedly began when she was 13 and involved approximately 60 men, according to the police in the southern state of Kerala.
"Forty-nine people have been taken into custody," Nandakumar S, a police official from the Pathanamthitta district in Kerala, told AFP.
The accused were known to the victim and included neighbours and family friends, police said.
Rajeev N, a lawyer and head of a local child welfare committee, said the victim’s parents were unaware of what she had endured.
"The child is being kept away from the media, and only police are visiting her to record her statements," he told AFP.
According to a report in The Indian Express, one of the accused allegedly blackmailed the victim with a video he had recorded during what he described as “physical relations.”
The man reportedly shared the video with friends, who then also sexually assaulted the teenager.
Investigations revealed that the victim was gang-raped on at least five occasions, including once at a local hospital, police said.
India reported nearly 90 rapes per day in 2022, though experts believe the actual numbers are significantly higher due to underreporting.
Separately, a court in Kolkata is expected to deliver its verdict this week in a case involving the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor last year.
Her bloodied body was found at a state-run hospital, sparking national outrage and protests over violence against women.
(With inputs from AFP)
Bob Blackman MP speaks during the event