Police have registered around 18 cases under various Indian crime laws and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which is a law to prevent crimes against people belonging to lower castes and tribes in India.
Dalits are at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy and face widespread discrimination in India, despite laws protecting them.
Cases were also registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act as the abuse took place when the woman was a minor, senior police official Nandakumar S told BBC Hindi.
More cases are expected to be reported in the coming days as police are still investigating the case. A team of 25 people was created.
Police say the abuse began when the girl was 13 years old. According to the News Minute website, her neighbor allegedly molested her and took sexually explicit photos of her.
Her neighbor allegedly sexually assaulted her again when she was 16, recorded a video of the abuse and shared it with several others who continued to assault the woman over the years.
A lawyer who heads the District Child Welfare Committee (CWC) told the Indian Express that the woman was an athlete and attended various sports camps, which could have contributed to further violence.
The police say that in the last five years, the woman was allegedly subjected to gangrape three times.
Her alleged abusers reportedly used her father’s phone number to contact her and the woman kept their contacts on her phone. The police are now using the phone to trace the accused.
The woman’s family was reportedly unaware of the alleged violence.
This came to light when a team of counselors visited the woman’s home last month. The advisers alerted the CWC about the matter and the woman was asked to appear before the committee along with her mother.
“She was consulted and she opened up to a psychologist, talking about the sexual abuse she faced since she was 13,” a CWC chief told the Indian Express.
He added that the woman has been shifted to a CWC-affiliated shelter for her protection.
The accusations of the woman caused shock throughout the country. She is expected to give a detailed statement about the alleged rape of the female police officer.
Additional reporting by Imran Qureshi, BBC Hindi
