The police sources said that the accused have been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and sections 342, 109 and 376D of IPC along with a woman.

SRINAGAR: Four-person including a policeman and a retired Army jawan-one report said he too is a policeman- are among four persons arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police on charge of raping a minor girl from the Union Territory's Kulgam district. More shockingly, the girl has been found to be pregnant during the medical examination.

The police sources said that the accused have been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and sections 342, 109 and 376D of IPC along with a woman. The victim aged about 16 years is a resident of Qazigund area of Kulgam.

Confirming it, a police spokesman said that police station Qazigund received a written complaint from a local resident alleging therein that her daughter (name withheld) was raped by three persons at Bonigam, Qazigund with the help of a woman of Damjen area of the same district. "The said offence as per the complainant surfaced during the course of a medical examination where she was found pregnant," the police said.

After registering the FIR under relevant sections of the law, the police arrested the accused identified as Zahoor Ahmad Mir, Aejaz Ahmad Shah, Kifayat Ahmad Malik and Shabrooza. The police claimed that during investigation, it surfaced that the accused policeman Zahoor Mir was not on duty when the crime took place "nor was it committed inside police premises''.

The police also said that in addition to criminal proceedings, departmental inquiry has been initiated against the accused policeman. It assured the people that "strict action" will be taken against offenders, regardless of their position or placement.