A dozen men gang-raped two minor girls in Gumla, a gang of 10 boys raped two underage girls in Khunti, and a young man was stabbed in Ranchi district this month amid the nationwide lockdown for the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The girls from Gumla were assaulted in Chota Khatanga, around 12km from the district headquarters and roughly 100km from Ranchi, on April 3 evening.

The FIR was registered on Friday evening at the Sadar police station.

“The youths kept the girls confined for four hours,” said a police official who requested anonymity. “They threatened the girls with dire consequences if the girls revealed the assault. Finally, the girls mustered up courage to turn up before police on Friday. It was only then that the FIR was registered and the investigation started.”

Gumla superintendent of police (SP) Anjani Kumar Jha said 10 of the accused had been arrested and efforts were on to arrest the other two.

“All those arrested are from the same village. The girls were returning from a wedding when they were caught by the youths and forcibly taken to an isolated place,” SP Jha said.

The assault in Khunti was similar.

A gang of 10 raped two underage girls on April 2 at a village around 30km from the district headquarters and roughly 50km from Ranchi. T

he FIR was lodged on Friday evening as the rapists had threatened to drive the girls out from the village.

Khunti SP Ashutosh Shekhar said most of the accused are minors and they had been arrested.

In Chanho, Birju Kumar, 24, was stabbed at his home around 40km from Ranchi.

He was referred to RIMS for treatment where his condition was stated to be stable.

SP (rural) Rishav Kumar Jha said the stabbing “was the result of a dispute over payment of money among close relatives”.