New Delhi — Police in the southern Indian state of Kerala have arrested 49 of 64 men accused of sexually abusing an 18-year-old girl over the past five years. The girl, who has not yet been identified, reportedly told investigators that she had been repeatedly sexually abused and gang-raped since she was 13 years old.
Police told CBS News partner network BBC News that the men accused of carrying out the attack include the girl's childhood friends as well as neighbors and family friends. According to Indian media outlet The News Minute, at least five students from her university and former classmates from her school are among the defendants.
According to the Times of India, most of the defendants themselves are teenagers or in their early 20s.
"Forty-nine people have been detained," Pathanamthitta district deputy police chief Nandakumar S. told AFP on Wednesday. "We have identified the remaining 14 people and they will be arrested soon."
The alleged abuse began five years ago when the girl's neighbor allegedly molested her and took sexually explicit photos and videos, which he then shared with others and used Come to blackmail the girl.
Police told Indian media that the girl was allegedly gang-raped at least three times in the past five years.
The alleged abuse came to light last month when a team of consultants working under a government program visited her home.
N. Rajeev, chairman of the National Council for Child Welfare, told The Indian Express, "She underwent counseling and opened up to a psychologist about the sexual abuse she suffered from the age of 13."
The Kerala police have assigned a team of 25 police officers to investigate the allegations.
At least 18 cases of alleged abuse of girls have been registered so far under various Indian laws, including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which seeks to prevent crimes against people from lower castes and tribes in India. India’s centuries-old social caste system.
The victims of mass abuse in Kerala are members of the Dalit community, the lowest caste in India. Dalits have Face widespread discrimination and abuse for many years.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Nandakumar told BBC Hindi Service that a criminal case has also been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act as most of the alleged abuse occurred when the girl was a minor.
The horrific scale of the alleged abuse has made national headlines, with an average of nearly 90 rapes reported in the country every day in 2022, the most recent year for which national data is available. It is believed there are many more incidents that have gone unreported.