A 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three youths while returning home after attending Arabic lessons at a local mosque at Charghat upazila in Rajshahi on Tuesday night.

The victim’s mother filed a case with Charghat Model Police Station on Wednesday afternoon, accusing the three youths.

According to the case statement and local sources, the girl, a resident of village Sreekhandi, was returning home at about 8:00pm after completing her Arabic lessons at a local mosque.

One of the accused allegedly lured her to a nearby mango orchard on the pretext of showing her something. Two other youths were reportedly waiting there.

The three then allegedly took her to a nearby jute field and raped her, the complaint said.

The accused were identified as Limon Islam, 22, son of Anwar Hossain, Shitu Alam, 18, son of Jahangir Alam, and Shiba Rahman, 16, son of Sabibur Rahman, all residents of village Sreekhandi in the upazila.

Local and family sources said that the victim had recently been married despite being a minor.

As her husband works at a garment factory in Dhaka, she had been living with her mother in the village.

After the incident, the girl returned home and informed her relatives about what had happened. Family members took her to a local health complex on Wednesday morning and later filed a written complaint with the police, naming the three accused.

Officer-in-charge of Charghat Model Police Station Abdul Malek confirmed that a case had been filed over the alleged gang rape.

‘Police are conducting drives to arrest the accused,’ he said.