BATU GAJAH: Police have arrested five men for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl at a hostel here on Monday.
Perak deputy police chief Deputy Commissioner Zulkafli Sariaat said the matter was uncovered after the victim's mother lodged a police report when her daughter did not return home after school, which ended at 1.30pm on the same day.
Zulkafli said the victim initially went to meet her boyfriend and wandered around Batu Gajah before meeting a man she had just met, who then invited her to go to a hostel.
"The victim went out to eat with the new acquaintance, who later invited her to a hostel. When the victim arrived at the hostel, she found that there were five men inside there.
"The victim was then offered to enter an empty room to sleep and rest before the five men took turns entering the room and raping her," he said in a statement last night.
Zulkafli said a police team successfully located the victim the next day (Tuesday) at the hostel and brought her to the Batu Gajah district police headquarters for questioning.
"Results from the interrogation revealed that the victim was raped by the five local men in the hostel on the same day the police report was lodged by the victim's mother at 10.22pm.
"Following this, a police team from the Batu Gajah district Criminal Investigation Division, guided by the victim, later arrested five men aged between 18 and 27," he said.
He said all five suspects have been remanded for six days starting yesterday until Oct 28 for further investigation.
The case is being investigated under Section 375B of the Penal Code for gang rape which carries a prison sentence of not less than 10 years and not more than 30 years, upon conviction.
He also advised the community, particularly parents and guardians, to be vigilant about the whereabouts of their children under their care by monitoring and conducting regular checks on their children's mobile phones to prevent exposure to unknown acquaintances on social media.
"Parents should be aware of their children's close acquaintances to prevent them from getting involved with bad individuals.
"In this case, it is suspected that the victim's mother did not monitor her, as the victim had actually gone to meet her boyfriend at a location and wandered around the Batu Gajah area while getting to know a man she had just met," he said.