Begusarai (Bihar): A minor girl was allegedly gang raped and the pictures of the crime were circulated on social media by the accused at a village in this district, police said Friday.

The incident, that occurred more than a week ago, came to light after the photographs taken by the accomplices of the perpetrators surfaced on social media, the police said.

According to the SHO of the Mansoorchak police station Arvind Kumar, the girl was sexually assaulted on February 11 by three people and two others took pictures of the heinous act on their mobile phones.

The SHO said the perpetrators had threatened the girl to kill her family members if she spoke about the incident.

One of the accused tried to molest her again on February 19 when she ran away and informed her father, the SHO said, adding that initially the family was reluctant to report the matter to the police but they lodged an FIR after the photographs were uploaded on the social media, apparently, out of mischief.

"All the five people named in the FIR are residents of the same village. They have fled the area upon learning that a case has been lodged. We are carrying out search operations to nab them," the SHO said.