Surat: A class X girl student was raped multiple times by five youths at different locations in the city during the past six months. One of the accused who became friends with the rape survivor on Instagram, morphed her photo and began to blackmail her.Bittu, Ajay, Sahil and their two other friends, all aged between 17 and 22 years, were booked for rape, unnatural sex, kidnapping, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Information Technology Act at Udhna police station on Friday on a complaint by the 15-year-old girl.Police investigation revealed that Bittu first became friends with the girl on Instagram. “The accused and the rape survivor did not know each other. They became friends on Instagram. Later the accused copied her photo and morphed it,” said a police officer at Udhna police station.The accused morphed the girl’s picture and developed some obscene images which he threatened to forward to her father in March and also make them go viral on social media if she did not meet him in person. The girl was raped when she met Bittu who later introduced her to his friends. They too raped her at different locations in the city. “The girl did not complain initially as she had been threatened by the accused that her photos would be shared with others on social media,” police said. She later informed her family members following repeated rapes by the five accused. The family approached police with the girl who gave a complaint against the accused to them.Meanwhile, Ajay alias Ajju Parekh, 19, a resident of Pandesara, and Sahil Rajput, 22, a resident of Udhna, were later arrested. Police have launched a manhunt for the other accused.

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