According to police sources, the two girls (names withheld), aged 12 and 10, are students of Palika Niwas, a school run by the New Delhi Municipal Council. The girls reportedly complained to their teacher that they had been “molested and raped by their father and uncles” several times in the last one year and that whenever they tried to object they were threatened with consequences.

The accused (names withheld) include the father, his two brothers and a minor cousin.

After the victims complained to the teacher, police officers said, she called the family members to the school, where the latter reportedly “apologised” for their conduct and assured “it won’t happen again”. A couple of days later, however, one of the girls complained to the teacher that there was a rape attempt on her again.

“The teacher then approached an advocate who brought the victims to the Lodhi Colony police station and lodged an FIR against the accused,” said an officer.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) H G S Dhaliwal confirmed the incident and the arrests.

According to the police sources, the victims lived in the Indira Gandhi camps in the Lodhi Road area with another minor sister and two brothers. Their mother died three years ago.

Medical examinations of the victims have confirmed rape. The three sisters and their two brothers have been sent to two

separate NGOs after the arrest of their family members.

“We first arrested the father from Gurgaon and on his tip-off, the others were arrested,” said a senior officer.