Patna, April 14: A Bengal girl’s romantic dream suffered twin jolts in Bihar capital, as her boyfriend deserted her following a tiff outside the Patna Junction station on Tuesday night and subsequently a rowdy auto driver allegedly raped her with his four friends.

The teenaged girl from Burnpur in Burdwan had eloped from her home and reached Patna on Thursday around 9.30pm with her boyfriend, Ravi. A friend of Ravi received them at the station. But after Ravi and the victim had a tiff, Ravi disappeared. So did his friend.

The girl hired an autorickshaw for going to Kadamkuan. But the auto driver took her to desolate place, called his friends and gangraped her.

The victim was found lying in a semi-conscious state beside a road under the jurisdiction of Ramkrisna Nagar police station on Wednesday morning.

The incident has triggered posers over the safety of women in the city. At least three similar incidents were reported in the city in the past five months.

Police claimed investigations into the shocking case had been started and team had been sent to the victim’s home. Two days after the girl was sexually assaulted at a secluded place in the state capital, the cops have started a manhunt for the men involved in the dastardly act as well as for the boyfriend of the victim. The police officers investigating the case said the girl underwent a medical test.

With the family of victim apparently not keen to come down to the city immediately to take their daughter home, the girl would be kept in the women’s remand home in the Gaighat area of the Patna City, the police told The Telegraph. “The bruises on the victim’s body implicate that there was a struggle. A police team has been sent to Burnpur in search of Ravi, with whom the girl came down to Patna. The girl had fled from her home with him and her family members said she had run away from home at least twice earlier. The police are also searching for Raju, the friend of Ravi who was at the railway station to receive them,” a police officer said.

“The victim had a fight with her boyfriend after coming out of Patna Junction and the latter disappeared. The girl said she had an acquaintance in Kadamkuan area and boarded an autorickshaw for going there. But the auto driver took her to some unknown location, called up his friends and took turns to rape her,” the officer said.

The auto driver and his friends dumped the girl beside a road under the jurisdiction of Ramkrisna Nagar police station. On Wednesday morning, some people spotted her.

“She was brought to the Kotwali police station and an FIR was lodged in the evening. The victim has been changing her statements time and again probably because of immense shock. First, she said an auto driver took her to the Agamkuan area where she suddenly decided to get back to the Patna Junction. The auto driver asked her to board another auto. When she got into another three-wheeler, he took her to some secluded spot and raped her after calling his friends. Soon after, she said she travelled in one single auto that night and people were already sitting in the same vehicle. Nevertheless, the victim is in a state of shock and the matter is being investigated. The girl does not remember the exact spot where she was raped,” the officer said.

The officer said the girl’s family claimed that she had left home with some jewellery. “But the girl purged her relatives claim, saying she had brought just Rs 300 and some luggage with her, which the auto driver and his friends fled with,” the officer said.