The four youths arrested for rape at Dhurwa police station in Ranchi on Thursday. (Hardeep Singh)

Ranchi, April 15: They made one cardinal mistake — of waiting on a platform at Hatia station, supposedly guarded by 36 GRP personnel on any given day — and paid with their honour.

Two sisters, aged 22 and 18, were gangraped by a group of 12, who also beat up and robbed their brother, barely half a kilometre from the station and a stone’s throw from the Hatia GRP post last evening.

Four of the culprits were arrested following an identification parade within hours of the incident.

The victims, residents of Ambajit village in Hazaribagh, were to board the 3pm Hatia-Yaswantpur Express from Hatia. They were going to Hyderabad in search of jobs along with their brother, Raju, and his four friends.

Unfortunately, they missed the train and decided to spend the night on platform No. 1 since they did not have enough money to return home.

Around 6.30pm, the sisters accompanied by her brother and one of his friends went to relieve themselves along the tracks. They were returning to the platform when a group of 12 youths — aged between 17 and 18 years — attacked them.

When Raju and his friend tried to resist, they were beaten up and robbed of Rs 1,700.

The gang dragged the girls to a nearby field and raped them. The victims, bruised and traumatised, returned to the station around 9pm.

In the meantime, Raju and the others informed the railway police. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the GRP communicated the incident to Hatia DSP Rajeev Ranjan who rushed to the spot.

A search was launched for the culprits. After four hours, police picked up 52 youths from Kalyanpur village, 2km from the station.

The victims identified four among them. Bablu Kachchap, Vishnu Kachchap, Sagar Kachchap and Sonu Kachchap were arrested while the others were released.

The girls were sent to Sadar hospital for medical examination the report of which is awaited. Their dreams of making it big in Hyderabad dashed, they have returned to their native village.

Police suspect gangrape. Two pairs of jeans used by the boys have been sent for tests. Ranjan said the four would be forwarded to Birsa Munda Central Jail tomorrow.