The Rajasthan Police on Wednesday said that a 15-year-old girl, who was on her way to a temple with two friends, was abducted, thrashed and raped by three men in Bhilwara district, the Hindustan Times reported. Three people – Raju Kahar, Kailash Kahar and Narayan Gurjar – have been arrested.

On Monday evening, when the three friends were on their way to a temple, the men, who were drinking alcohol on the roadside, began to follow them. “While her friends managed to escape the three, the teenage girl was abducted by the accused and forcibly taken to an isolated place where she was raped,” Bhilwara District Police Chief Harendra Mahwar said.

One of her friends who escaped sought help from a shopkeeper, later identified as Chand Khan Rangrez, from a nearby market. “I was sitting at my shop on Monday evening when one boy, who looked scared, approached me,” Rangrez said. “The boy said that when he was going with his two friends, three men stopped him on Tehnal Road. They snatched his bike, abducted his minor friend, took her to an isolated place and are raping her.”

Rangrez told the newspaper that he saw three people beating the girl when he reached the spot. “Seeing me approach them, the accused fled. The girl was so terrified that she ran without clothes for more than half-a-kilometre,” he said. “I tried to convince her that I am here to help but she didn’t believe me. But a few minutes later, she seemed to trust me and stopped. I gave my clothes to her.”

The police filed a case against the three men under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the IPC, Mahwar said.

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