Two members of a panchayat in Kishanganj district were arrested on Monday for allegedly coercing the relatives of a rape victim to take Rs 50,000 and make her undergo abortion.

The girl, a Class X student of a government school under Bahadurganj block of the district, around 400km east of Patna, had lodged an FIR with the Women's police station on December 2, alleging that she got pregnant after being gang-raped by one Riyaz and his three accomplices.

The family of the four accused used to pester the victim to undergo abortion. The parents of the accused allegedly sought the help of the panchayat, which too directed the victim to abort, offering Rs 50,000 for the purpose.

The victim's mother later approached senior police officers, who directed the Bahadurganj police station to lodge an FIR against the members of the panchayat for pressurising the victim to undergo abortion. She also apprehended threat to her life and her three children.

'We have registered a case against eight persons, who had attended the meeting of the panchayat on that day,' Bahadurganj station house officer (SHO) Mahfooz Alam told The Telegraph by phone. He said two of the accused had already been arrested.

Alam said raids were on to nab the other accused. Moreover, the father of the prime accused has been arrested. Three other accused - Gulmohan, Manihar Alam and Munna - said to be members of the same family, were absconding after the incident, the SHO added.

Kishanganj superintendent of police (SP) Rajiv Ranjan said no one would be spared. 'A special police team, headed by a deputy superintendent of police-rank officer, has been constituted to arrest the accused,' he said.

Earlier, the girl, aged around 18 years, had alleged that she was raped by the accused while she was going to school around seven months ago. She could not reveal the matter to her father as he was away in Rajasthan, where he worked as a daily wager.