IANS

Thane, Jun 20: Five young men allegedly raped a 19-year-old college student and circulated a video clip of the assault in Maharashtra's Thane district. Three men have been arrested, police said Saturday.

On May 14 the girl accompanied one of the accused to a room in Hotel Sai Pooja in Thane on the outskirts of Mumbai when she was allegedly raped by five men. However, a complaint was lodged by the girl June 19.

"We have nabbed three accused - Parag and Pankaj Mhatre, both brothers, and their classmate Hiren Patil. We are on a lookout for the other accused and hope to nab them shortly," Assistant Superintendent of Police Maithili Jha told IANS.

Asked about the delay in lodging the complaint, Jha said the victim was scared and did not file the complaint as all the accused were her neighbours. Also, they were blackmailing her and circulating the MMS widely among their friends.

"Finally, the girl gathered courage and lodged the complaint as the incident was known to many people. We have secured a copy of the video-clip as evidence of the crime," Jha said.