The police in Punganur in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district arrested five boys on Thursday for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl for the past two months, Deccan Chronicle reported. The police have booked them under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The five were produced before a local court, which sent them to a juvenile home.

The police arrested the accused after a mob dragged out two of the five boys from their homes late on Wednesday and thrashed them, NDTV reported.

The accused, aged between 16 and 17, were reportedly addicted to pornographic videos. “The boys were in the habit of watching pornography on the phone and that may have influenced them to commit the crime,’’ investigating officer T Sainath told NDTV.

They allegedly threatened the girl not to tell anyone about the assaults. The girl confided in her mother, who then told her brother and others in the neighbourhood. They complained to the police, but decided to take matters into their own hands when the police allegedly did not take any action.