The police arrested three youths on June 21 (Wednesday) on charges of sexually assaulting a girl in Krishna district.
The victim, a degree student and a native of Eluru, was staying in a hostel in Machilipatnam.
The police said that the accused, Satish, a native of S.N. Gollapalem, had befriended the girl, and two days ago, he, along with two of his friends, allegedly took the victim to a lodge and sexually assaulted her.
Following a complaint, the police registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and IPC Section 376 (Rape), said Machilipatnam Deputy Superintendent of Police Y. Madhava Reddy.
“The accused have been produced in court, which has remanded them in judicial custody,” the DSP saiad.
Meanwhile, leaders of various associations and student unions staged a dharna and observed a bandh of the educational institutions in protest against the incident.