KOCHI: A 17-year-old girl who went missing from Ottappalam in Palakkad was gangraped in Kochi and in various places of the state. Eight people have been arrested in Palarivattom and central police station in the incident that happened in August last.

There is a total of 21 accused in the case. 14 of them have been charged for sexual abuse and others with abetment. Joshi Thomas (40) at Mattanchery Chakkamadam, K B Salam (49) of Aluva Choornikkara, Ajith Kumar (24) Krishnapuram in Thrissur, Manoj Soman (34) of Pandalam in Pathanamthitta, Girija (52) of Udayamperur, Achu (26) of Puthenkurissu, Nikhil Antony (37) of Vyttilla and Bijin Mathew (22) of Kottayam are those arrested.

The sexual abuse came to light in a further probe conducted in the case registered at Ottappalam Palappuram Station on the missing complaint. Donald Wilson, suspected to be the main accused in the case, was taken into custody by the Kollam Paripally police in a similar case. The central police said that Wilson remanded will be taken into custody and questioned.

Donald, who met the child at the Ernakulam KSRTC stand, took her to a hotel on Vivekananda Road and abused her sexually. Then he called the hotel owner Joshi and manager Ajith Kumar. They also abused her. After this, the girl who came back to the KSRTC stand was offered a job by Manoj and he brought her to the lodge on Chittoor Road. The owner of this lodge, K B Salam and Manoj, raped her. They later handed over the girl to Girija, who was associated with sex racket. The Palarivattom police said that it was Girija who handed over the girl to the other accused.

She was sexually abused from June 21 to August 4. The girl who left home had reached Kollam, Thrissur and Wayanad apart from Ernakulam. She was abused in all these places. She was drugged and gang raped. The police found the girl from near Lulu Mall, Thiruvananthapuram. She was shifted to Nirbhaya Home by the Child Welfare Committee and she disclosed about the abuse only after a month. Arrests may also be made in other districts in the incident.