Minor girl gang-raped while parents were held hostage in Lucknow

​LUCKNOW: A 12-year-old girl has allegedly been gang-raped in Lucknow by five men who took turns between assaulting her and holding her parents hostage to prevent them from intervening.

The girl has said she was assaulted early yesterday in the capital of Uttar Pradesh. Medical tests are being conducted on her.

Ahead of elections, the government of Akhilesh Yadav confronts a retinue of shocking cases of sexual and other crimes across the state.

In July, a teen and her mother were raped in the fields surrounding a major highway in Bulandshahr near Delhi. The young rape survivor has asked the Supreme Court to monitor the investigation after a senior minister, Azam Khan, dismissed the attack on her as "a political conspiracy" to malign the government.

The 12-year-old who was allegedly gang-raped yesterday has spoken to the police. Two dozen men allegedly forced their way into her house and stole valuables. Some of them pinned down her family while others reportedly led the girl away to assault her. Her father was injured on his head.

"The girl has told me that she was raped by five men. The incident took place at about 600-700 metres away from the girl's house," senior police officer Manzil Saini told reporters.