A six-year-old minor was allegedly raped by her landlord's 24-year-old son in Oshiwara on Thursday. Police said that the minor girl had gone to play when the incident occurred. Police have arrested the accused, who is a pharmaceutical student, and booked him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
According to police sources, the minor stays with her family on the mezzanine floor of the house owned by the father of the accused in Jogeshwari (W). The minor girl would often come to play downstairs, which is why her parents never objected. On Thursday, however, when the minor had gone down to play, the accused, who is handicapped by his right hand, allegedly raped her, due to which the minor began bleeding and rushed home crying.
Police said that when the parents saw the girl, they asked her in a bid to console her, but learnt that something had happened when they saw bleeding at her private parts. When asked, the girl reiterated the incident, following which the family immediately approached the police and lodged a complaint.
Acting on the complaint, the accused was nabbed from his residence and booked under relevant sections of the IPC and POCSO Act for rape, said Sanjay Bendale, senior inspector of Oshiwara police station. The accused confessed to the crime and said he does not know why he did the act. Police have sent the girl for medical and will produce the accused before a POCSO Court on Friday for remand.
Soon after the incident came to light, the Local Corporater of Shiv Sena Rajul Patel and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Bharati Lavekar reached the police station in large numbers demanding justice. In a similar incident, a 65-year-old cobbler had allegedly raped a nine-year-old girl with an intellectual disability last week, by touching her inappropriately in a secluded place in Jogeshwari (W). He was arrested immediately.
