7 including SP, BSP leaders held in rape of minor in UP

A total of seven persons have been arrested so far in connection with the rape of a 17-year-old girl in the district.

The arrested persons include the district presidents of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and a junior engineer.

The father of the survivor is also accused of raping her.

According to the police, the arrested persons include the father of the victim, SP district president Tilak Yadav, BSP district president Deepak Ahirwar and a junior engineer (JE), Mahendra Dubey.

All the three were absconding and police teams tracked them down.

"All the three had fled to Mirzapur after escaping from Lalitpur and were trying to contact some lawyers. Police raided the hotel where they were staying and apprehended them," said Superintendent of Police Lalitpur, Nikhil Pathak.

He further said, "Our SOG team has arrested the three main accused from Mirzapur where they were hiding. All seven accused have been caught so far and our teams are continuously raiding other hideouts to catch the rest of the named accused."

Last week, the 17-year-old girl had lodged a report against 28 persons including her father, and party leaders of SP and BSP along with some close relatives for raping her for the past few years.

The mother of the girl also lodged an FIR against her husband and in-laws levelling serious allegations of domestic violence and continuous torture along with sodomy of her son by the accused father.