Mathura (UP), May 5 (PTI) Police have arrested five people, including an auto-rickshaw driver and a 68-year-old man, here in connection with two separate cases of sexual assault involving minors, officials said on Tuesday.
In the first case, four youths were sent to jail for allegedly kidnapping and gang-raping two minor sisters. Deputy Superintendent of Police (Sadar) Pitam Pal Singh said the girls, aged 17 and 15, went missing on April 30 after visiting an ashram in the Vrindavan area.
According to the victims' statement, an auto-rickshaw driver named Sameer lured them into his vehicle on the pretext of taking them to Mathura.
He allegedly took them to a hotel in the Dhaulipyau area, where he and his associates raped them, police said.
The girls were later forced onto a Delhi-bound train and threatened with dire consequences if they spoke out, they said.
Following a tip-off from an acquaintance in Delhi, they returned to Mathura on July 2.
Police arrested Sameer and his accomplices, Shiva, Krishna, and Rupesh.
In a separate incident within the Refinery police station limits, an elderly man, Laxmikant, was arrested for allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl.
The incident occurred on Monday when the child's parents were away at work.
Police said other children in the vicinity witnessed the act and raised an alarm, leading villagers to catch the accused and hand him over to the police.
Officials confirmed that the accused was booked under sections of the BNS and relevant sections of the POCSO Act. Investigations in both cases are underway.