Father accused in gang-rape of daughter

In a shocking case, a seven-year-old girl has accused her father and three of his friends of repeatedly gang-raping her over a fortnight last month, police have said. An officer of Chinchwad police station, on the outskirts of Pune, said the child's mother had filed a complaint against her estranged husband and three others. "We have arrested the four accused and sent them for a medical check-up. The victim too has been sent for a medical examination," the police officer told IANS. According to the police complaint, the accused, identified as Narayan Pathak, married the woman in 2003 after a love affair. However, following marital discords, they have been living separately for the past three years. The woman, who works in a private company, said Pathak would come to her home on the pretext of dropping his daughter to a creche. In May, Pathak and three of his associates allegedly gang-raped the girl on several occasions, prompting her mother to lodge the complaint. The four were scheduled to be presented before a magistrate today. Pathak works as a driver with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)'s public bus service. Police did not disclose the identity of the other three men. From / Gulf News