A 19-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by seven men, including her "WhatsApp boyfriend", in Assam's Nagaon district on Monday evening.
The victim was reportedly in touch with the prime accused, Raju, via WhatsApp, and they decided to meet for the first time on Monday as it was her birthday. They went on a long drive to Tezpur and after celebrating her birthday by shopping and drinking alcohol, Raju called some of his friends. Then, the seven men took turns to rape the girl under a bridge on the highway.
"The boy took her to Tezpur for shopping. While returning, they stopped near Amoni and got drunk. Then, the boy called some of his friends who raped her. Locals found her in the morning," The Times of India quoted a Police officer from Nagaon. The culprits also snatched away all her belongings before fleeing away, leaving the victim in critical condition.
The incident sparked outrage in the area and some locals even blamed the police for not patrolling the area frequently. All the accused are still at large.
One of the crucial aspects in the case was that the girl knew the boy only through WhatsApp. This adds to the list of crimes, in which social networking sites and instant messaging apps play an important role.
Assam reportedly witnesses around 1,500 rape case every year and in most of the cases, the culprits are either acquaintances or relative of the victims.
