Schoolfriends, family members and neighbours are among the dozens of men arrested for the rape of a teenager in India.
An 18-year-old girl in Kerala reported to police the horrific sexual abuse that she suffered in the last five years in January.
Since then, a total of 58 men and boys have been arrested and accused of her sexual assault, rape and gang rape.
Another two men wanted in connection with the case have fled the country, it was reported.
Those accused, who range between 17 and 47 years, include married men and at least five students from her college and former classmates from her school.
There are also four minors and two others who were minors at the time of the crime, further complicating the investigation, India’s News Media outlet reported.
One of the first to be arrested was a man named by local media as Subin, who allegedly initiated the abuse when the victim was only 13.
They were friends from childhood, and lived in the same neighbourhood in Kerala.
The now 24-year-old allegedly sexually assaulted her and recorded images and videos of her, which he used to threaten her into providing sexual favours for a friend.
Police said this friend brought in two more men, who further exploited the teenager.
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- What to do if your loved one is at risk from domestic abuse
Over the next few years, her contact details and photographs were spread among different circles of men and boys.
Police say that the victim was allegedly gangraped three times in the past five years.
Rajeev, chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee in Pathanamthitta, told local media: ‘Word may have spread from one man to another, to their circle of friends or colleagues.
‘Quite a lot of the accused are from her neighbourhood and daily wage labourers, but there are others too. We were shocked to hear her name so many men.’
Her alleged abusers reportedly used her father’s phone number to contact her and the woman stored their contacts in the phone. The police are now using the phone to trace them.
According to police, they forced the victim to meet her at different places, including inside an abandoned bus at a stand in Pathanamthitta and secluded corners of the local general hospital.
The allegations emerged in January, sending shockwaves through the Dalit community in Kerala that the girl is part of.
India’s 166 million Dalits are among the most marginalised citizens in the country and the stigma they face remains evident to this day.
In general, they continue to survive under inhumane, degrading conditions. Around 80% of them live in rural areas.
A 2020 report by the NGO Equality Now found that sexual violence is used by dominant castes to oppress Dalit women and girls.
They are often denied justice because of a ‘prevalent culture of impunity, particularly when the perpetrators are from a dominant caste.’
Even when Dalit women report sexual abuse, they face an uphill battle to justice.
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