7 Held for Gang Rape of 17-Year-Old in TN

The Police Started the Investigation After the Girl's Grandmother Filed a Missing Person Report at the Ukkadam Police Station on Sunday

- KA Shaji

CHENNAI: Seven college students were on Tuesday arrested in connection with the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, police said, adding one of the accused was known to the survivor through social media.

Coimbatore city police commissioner A Saravana Sundar said the girl, who lived with her grandmother, left home on Sunday morning claiming she was going to meet some friends. However, she did not return home until late on Sunday and her mobile phone remained switched off, following which her grandmother lodged a missing person's complaint at the Ukkadam police station.

She returned home on Monday morning and informed the police that one of the accused, who had befriended her over social media, invited her to his rented home in Kuniyamuthur, where he and six of his friends gang-raped her.