Salt Lake: A teenager trained in judo landed a flurry of kicks and punches on a gang of five who allegedly molested her and tried to drag her to an empty field, barely 200m from her home in the bheri areas beyond Salt Lake Sector V.
All five, four of them minors, were arrested on Tuesday.
The 16-year-old, who has a blue belt in judo, trains for at least two hours every day at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) complex adjacent to the Salt Lake stadium. She was returning home from practice on April 18 evening when Bijoy Das, 20, and four minor boys allegedly passed lewd comments at her. She ignored them but the gang allegedly molested her and tried to drag her to a deserted area.
The girl hit them back, freed herself from their clutches and ran away, an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said.
Once home, she narrated the incident to her father, a priest at a local temple. He went to the spot, sought out the gang and asked them why they had harassed his daughter.
Das and his boys allegedly pushed the girl's father to the ground and rained blows on him before running away. The girl's father lodged a complaint with Bidhannagar South police station on Monday.
"All five were picked up from their houses. They are known to harass women who pass by the area where they hang out every evening," said Amit Javalgi, deputy commissioner, headquarters, Bidhannagar commissionerate.
Ramesh Bor, a neighbour of the girl, said the boys took advantage of the dark stretch where street lights have not been working for long. "The area where the boys used to sit and smoke pot is desolate as there are no houses around and there is a bheri at the back," Bor said.
The boys were produced before the juvenile justice board on Tuesday and sent to a home for observation till May 1, after which they will be presented again in front of the board. Das was produced before a court in Barasat and remanded in judicial custody till April 30. All the accused have been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
