Indian police have arrested dozens of people on charges of rape and sexual assault of a teenage girl over a period of 5 years

New Delhi Police in the southern Indian state of Kerala have arrested 49 of 64 men accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old girl over the past five years. The girl, whose identity has not been released, reportedly told investigators that she had been sexually assaulted and gang-raped multiple times since she was 13 years old.

The men accused in the attacks include the girl’s childhood friend, along with neighbors and family friends, police told CBS News Associates. BBC News. At least five students from her college and former classmates from her school are among the accused, according to an Indian outlet Minute news.

The majority of the accused are themselves, either teenagers or in their early twenties, according to what the British newspaper “Daily Mail” reported. Times of India.

“49 people have been arrested,” Pattanamthitta district police deputy inspector Nandakumar S. told AFP news agency on Wednesday. “We have identified the remaining 14 and they will be arrested soon.”

The alleged abuse began five years ago when the girl’s neighbor allegedly harassed her and took sexually explicit photos and videos, then shared them with others and used them to blackmail the girl while continuing to abuse her.

Police told Indian media that the girl had been gang-raped at least three times in the past five years.

The alleged abuse came to light last month when a team of counselors working under a government program visited her home.

Quoted from N. Rajeev, president of the National Commission for Child Welfare, told The Indian Express: “She took counselling, spoke to a psychiatrist and narrated the sexual abuse she had been facing since she was 13 years old.”

The Kerala Police assigned a team of 25 officers to investigate these allegations.

At least 18 cases have been registered in connection with the girl’s alleged abuse so far under various Indian laws – including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act – which aims to prevent crimes against people from lower castes and tribes in India. India’s centuries-old social hierarchy.

The victim of mass abuse in Kerala is a member of the Dalit community, the lowest caste in India. Dalits have They faced widespread discrimination and abuse For many years.

Criminal cases have also been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, with the majority of the alleged abuse occurring when the girl was a minor, Deputy Superintendent Nandakumar told the BBC Hindi Language Service.

The horrific scale of the alleged abuse made national headlines in a country where nearly 90 rapes were reported daily in 2022, the latest year for which national data is available. It is believed that many others have not been reported.