New Delhi, December 12
In the fourth such incident here in five weeks, an 18-year-old girl was abducted and raped by four persons in a moving car in Sultanpuri area yesterday night after she protested against lewd remarks being passed at her. The accused, including a minor, have been arrested.

The victim along with her neighbour Ravi was going to fetch her mother from a factory when the incident took place near her house at around 10.20 pm.

The four men allegedly passed some lewd comments to which the girl protested. An argument ensued and the girl snatched the factory keys from her neighbour and threw them at the car, damaging the windshield,” Chhaya Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer), told reporters here.

The men asked her to compensate for the damage and the argument continued. Enraged at this, the men forced her into the car and drove away, she said.

According to the girl, the men argued with her for compensation inside the car and then raped her. “All four persons have been apprehended. We located the girl inside the car used for her abduction along with two men at around 12:30 am,” Chhaya Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer), told reporters here. The accused have been identified as Rama (28), Chanderpal (23), Manish alias Dabbu (25). All of them are drivers. They have been charged under various Sections of the IPC pertaining to abduction and gang rape. The fourth accused, a minor, has been charged under the Juvenile Justice Act.

The police has also impounded the car used for the crime, the DCP said. The men appeared to have consumed alcohol during the incident and investigators have seized beer cans from the car.

According to police, the girl’s neighbour, Ravi, informed the Police Control Room at 10:24 pm but could not provide the registration number of the vehicle. Later, at 11:05 pm, Ravi made another call to PCR after a tent-owner who was at the spot gave him the number of the vehicle.

After getting a call about her abduction, around 600-700 policemen surveyed six police station areas for about two hours before they could locate the victim and arrest two of the suspects. By 5 am, the other two who were part of the abduction were apprehended. According to the police, the victim's mother had made a call to the girl during which she told her that she would be returning home soon. The victim later told police that she was under duress to say so and was beaten up, said the DCP.

The victim, who is married but is currently staying with her mother, was taken for a medical examination which confirmed rape.

Rama is the owner of the Hyundai Accent car used in the crime. He claimed that he bought it from an agency for around Rs 1.5 lakh. This is the fourth incident of abduction and rape of a girl reported from the Capital in recent times.