Mumbai News: 30-Year-Old Man Arrested For Raping Minor After 9-Month Long Manhunt

After a hunt of 9 months, a 30-year-old man was held for allegedly kidnapping a minor girl and raping her, said the RCF police in Chembur on Sunday. The girl, 15, too was rescued by the police.

According to the police, the incident took place in the evening of August 20 last year. The girl disappeared and despite looking for her everywhere, her parents couldn’t find her. They then approached the RCF police, and since the girl is underage, a case of kidnapping was registered against an unknown person.

Police's Initial Investigation Leading To Arrest of The Accused

Police started with looking around everywhere, questioning the parents, neighbours and even the relatives yet they didn’t find any clues about the minor girl’s disappearance. Later, the victim girl’s father noticed that an employee working at his factory was missing, since the day the girl went missing, he informed the same to the police. Police tried to reach out to the employee, who originally hails from Madhepura in Bihar. His mobile phone was switched off, hence a team of police were sent to his home location. Despite best efforts, police yet again received any breakthrough in the matter.

“His phone was off, and we were constantly trying to get his location details and Call Record Details but it was no success. The victim’s father then received a call from an unknown number and the accused was on the line. He challenged the father and us (police) to try to locate and nab him. Immediately after, a team was sent back to Bihar as his location was somewhere in the state area,” said a police official.

Police Tactics In Capturing Accused Of Minor's Rape

The accused was not found on the location which was traced using the unknown phone number, and the said phone number was later turned off, said the police, who then started a physical search throughout in the Amarpura and Sadar Patna areas. “We disguised as Bihari locals and in the autorickshaws we started to look for him. We received a tip about the accused being an auto driver, hence, we started searching across the areas to locate him. Using a picture of the accused, we asked other drivers about his whereabouts,” said a police official part of the investigation team.

Police then received a tip about the accused being spotted at Madhepura, and hence a trap was laid. The accused who was attempting to run again from Madhepura to a different area was trapped by the police.

The accused was taken to Sadar police station in Muzaffarpur city for questioning. He confessed about the girl’s location and a separate team consisting of women police personnel were sent to rescue her safely.

Police Investigation And Legal Proceedings Following Minor's Rape

The girl was taken to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) court for further formalities including medical examination, and the accused was presented in a local court for a transfer bail. They were brought back to RCF Police station, separately.

The police team was formed by senior police inspector Kedari Pawar, comprising police inspector Ranjit Jadhav (Crime), ASI Kiran Mandre, PSI Ramesh Khapale, and police constables Anil Gharat and Pritam Patil.

The accused, has been slapped with the charges of rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment of a minor under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act.