A 13-year-old girl in Andhra Pradesh, who was forced into prostitution for over eight months, was rescued by the police in Guntur on Tuesday, April 19. A probe revealed that she was gang raped by over 80 men during the eight-month period, reports IndiaToday.

The victim was adopted by a woman, Sawarna Kumari, who had befriended her mother at a hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic in June 2021. The girl's mother had died due to Covid-19 soon after, and the girl was taken away by the woman without her father’s knowledge.

Police informed that 10 men, including a B.Tech student, were arrested on Tuesday, April 19. Police have also arrested 80 people involved in the crime and are on the lookout for more accused who are on the run.

For the last eight months, the 13-year-old girl had been sent to different brothel houses in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to be used in the flesh trade business. Based on this, police identified Sawanra Kumari, the woman who had taken the girl away, as the main accused who forced the minor into prostitution.

Additional Superintendent of Police, K Supraja said that the police had identified 80 accused and had begun arresting them. Of those, some are kingpins, 35 are pimps and the rest are customers.

“Taking advantage of the girl's age and situation, several gangs purchased the girl and took her to several places in the twin Telugu states and forced her into prostitution,” revealed the ASP.

Police are searching for some more accused who are on the run. “One of the accused in this case is in London,” said ASP Supraja.

Police have seized one car, 53 cell phones, three autos and bikes from the accused in this case. The accused were arrested from Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Kakinada and Nellore.

Police are hunting for other absconding accused involved in the eight-month gang rape of a 13-year-old minor girl in Andhra Pradesh.