An 18-year-old Dalit woman from the southern India state of Kerala has accused 64 men of sexually abusing her since she was 13 years old.
Police have arrested 28 people in connection with the case so far – the men are in custody and have not made any public statement.
The accused, who range between 17 and 47 years of age, include the woman’s neighbours, sports coaches and her father’s friends, police told the BBC.
The woman reported the alleged abuse after a team of counsellors working under a government scheme visited her house.
Police have registered about 18 cases under India’s various crime laws as well as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act – which is a law to prevent crimes against people belonging to lower castes and tribes in India.
Dalits lie at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy and face widespread discrimination in India despite laws to protect them.
Cases have also been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, since the abuse took place when the woman was a minor, senior police official Nandakumar S told BBC Hindi.
More cases are expected to be registered in the coming days as the police are still investigating the matter. A 25-member team has been set up.
Police say that the alleged abuse began when the girl was 13 years old. Her neighbour allegedly molested her and took sexually explicit photographs of her, the News Minute website reported.
Her neighbour allegedly sexually abused her again when she was 16 years old, recorded videos of the abuse and shared it with several others who continued to assault the woman over many years.
A lawyer who heads the district’s Child Welfare Committee (CWC) told the Indian Express newspaper that the woman was an athlete and attended various sports camps, which could have facilitated further abuse.
Police say that the woman was allegedly gangraped three times in the past five years.
Her alleged abusers reportedly used her father’s phone number to contact her and the woman stored their contacts in the phone. The police are now using the phone to trace the accused.
The woman’s family was reportedly unaware of the alleged abuse.
The matter came to light when a team of counsellors visited the woman’s home last month. The counsellors alerted the CWC about the matter and the woman was asked to appear before the committee along with her mother.
“She was given counselling, and she opened up before a psychologist, narrating the sexual abuse she has been facing since the age of 13,” the CWC chief told the Indian Express.
He added that the woman had been shifted to a shelter associated with the CWC for her protection.
The woman’s allegations have sent shockwaves across the country. She is expected to give a detailed statement about the alleged abuse to a woman police officer.
Additional reporting by Imran Qureshi, BBC Hindi
