City anchor: Schoolgirl was fooled by rapists, she loved one of them: Police

The two cousins accused of raping a 17-year-old student of a prominent south Delhi public school have told police that their intention was to befriend her and there was no "plan" to sexually assault or harass her.

But, based on their questioning, police said it was "clear" that Naveen Singhal Khetwal (24) and Rajesh Singh (24) took advantage of her innocence.

Naveen and Rajesh met the girl on Facebook, and later met her on several occasions.

"The men took advantage of the girl's innocence and lured her. They simply talked their way through and impressed upon her that they were only looking for friendship. The girl, who did not see through their intentions, fell in love with Naveen," a police officer said.

In her statement, the girl told police that she became friends with Rajesh first. They would meet every fortnight, but in March last year Rajesh stopped meeting her. This, the girl said, sent her into depression.

Police said it was then that Naveen met her and promised her a relationship that would last. On July 24, Naveen took her to friend's house in Safdarjung Enclave and gave her a drink laced with sedatives, following which he "sexually abused" her, the girl told police.

On September 7, Naveen told her that he was leaving Delhi and returning to his hometown in Uttarakhand. Later, she met Rajesh, who consoled her, police said. When the girl met Rajesh, he took her to a friend's house in Green Park and sexually abused her, police were told.

Depressed over the abuse she faced, the girl reportedly tried to commit suicide by drinking a floor-cleaning liquid and slitting her wrist, police said. The suicide attempt, alerted the parents and also another cousin of Naveen told her that Naveen and Rajesh had "planned" the assault, she told police . Following this, she approached police.

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