Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh), Dec 17 (IANS): Three teenagers were caught by locals, tied to a tree and thrashed for several hours as 'punishment' for allegedly molesting girls in the locality.

The boys, all 19 years old, remained tied to the tree and were beaten for several hours until they were rescued by the police.

The incident took place on Wednesday night, but the matter came to light on Thursday when one of the girls' father lodged a police complaint.

In his complaint on Thursday, the father alleged, "Three boys belonging to another faith often came to our locality and molest our girls. Last night, when my daughter was returning home, these boys started molesting her and even threatened to kill her."

Based on the complaint, an FIR under IPC sections 354 (attempt to outrage the modesty of a woman) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), along with the SC/ST Act, was registered against the three youths.

On Thursday, a second FIR was then registered on a complaint of the mother of one of the boys who alleged that her son was in the market when the family members of a girl caught her son and thrashed him for several hours. A purported video also surfaced in which a girl can be seen slapping the boys.

Police registered the FIR under sections 147 (rioting), 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC against four identified and several unidentified people.

Superintendent of Police (city) Akhilesh Bhadauria said, "We carried out a detailed investigation and found that three boys were tied to a tree and thrashed for hours for molesting a local girl. We have registered FIRs on the complaint of both the parties, and three persons have been sent to jail so far."