A 12-year-old girl, living with her aunt's family in Mumbai after her parents divorced and married other partners in Gujarat, was raped repeatedly for about one-and-a-half years by one of her cousins and his friends and neighbours.

The first time she was raped was in August 2008 and the ordeal stopped only a few days ago after an elderly person in the family came to know of what was happening from neighbourhood gossip. The culprits, including a 71-year-old man from the Saki Naka locality, made use of an MMS clip — of one of the assaults committed some time in 2008 — to blackmail the girl until the family elders came to know of what had been happening.

Four persons, including the 71-year-old man, have been arrested as cops are looking for the five other culprits including the girl's cousin, Daval Bapat.