A 24-year-old man has been arrested by the police for allegedly raping a 15-year-old minor girl. The accused took the victim to a local lodge, in Sanpada, Navi Mumbai, where he raped her, said the police.
The victim’s father approached the police on Tuesday evening and narrated the entire incident. He mentioned that the accused, Dindayal Laksman Prasad Choudhary, worked as an assistant at his mobile shop, located in Chembur. According to the victim’s father, in his statement to the police, he said that Dindayal has been working at his mobile shop for many years now, and given his behaviour, nobody would have predicted he could do something like this behind his back.
How the accused lured the victim
According to the police, Dindayal approached the minor girl in a very friendly manner, at first. Gradually, when the victim’s father was away from his shop and house for work, the accused would go to the girl’s house to convince her to be in a relationship with her because he “loves” her. On April 14, as per the girl’s statement to the police, Dindayal had come to her house when she was alone, when he confessed his love, kissed her and then touched her inappropriately.
“He manipulated her into a physical relationship, on the pretext of love. The accused then sexually molested her, touched her inappropriately despite the victim telling her not to,” said a police official.
The victim’s father got to know about how Dindayal took his daughter to a lodge in Sanpada where he allegedly raped her, repeatedly.
Accused arrested, owner of lodge questioned
The police arrested the accused on Tuesday night for the charges of rape. Meanwhile, the owner of the lodge in Sanpada is currently being interrogated for allowing a minor to check in without the consent of her parents or guardians.
“Either the lodge owner/manager did not bother to verify her age by checking her PAN card or Aadhar Card, or he (accused) possibly displayed an edited version of the Aadhar Card which is more common. We are inquiring with the lodge owner to verify the facts. If we find they didn’t check on the girl’s age before allowing her inside, they will be arrested for violation of norms,” said a senior official.
A case has been registered against Dindayal under sections 376 (rape) and 376 (2) (n) (commits repeated rape on the same woman) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault), 12 (sexual harassment), among others of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The court remanded the accused to police custody for five days.
