Maharashtra: Three held for raping 17-year-old orphan girl
The police has arrested three men for allegedly gang-raping a 17-year-old orphan girl at Vasai in Palghar district in Maharashtra, an official said on Saturday. Besides the gang rape, the accused had sexually assaulted her separately on multiple occasions between November 2020 and August this year, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Railways) Pradeep Jadhav said.
She was found loitering around Vasai railway station by police
Jadhav said, "On August 3, a police team found the girl loitering around the Vasai railway station area. When they asked about her whereabouts, she could not share any information as she appeared to be under some kind of trauma." "The police then took the help of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and some NGOs to talk to the girl," he said.
Medical examination revealed that girl was sexually assaulted
"The teen was also sent for a medical examination, which revealed that she had been sexually assaulted. However, she only took the name of one Ajay, based on which the police started the probe," Jadhav said.
She started residing on footpaths after her father's death
Jadhav said, "The girl later opened up and started sharing information. She said that she resided in Vasai with her father after her mother left them." "In November 2020, her father died and the house owner evicted her. After that the girl started roaming on the streets and resided on footpaths, where she was sexually assaulted several times," he added.
Main accused was nabbed on August 10
Jadhav said, "Based on this information, the police formed teams to probe the case and checked the CCTV footage." "Finally, on August 10, the prime accused in the case, Ajay Kumar Vinod Jaiswal (34), was nabbed, who confessed to the crime and also revealed the names of his associates. The remaining two accused—Munna Yadav (28) and Akram Choudhari (34)—were arrested on Friday," he added.
Girl will be rehabilitated and given vocational training: Police
Police has registered an offense against the trio under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 363 (kidnapping), Section 376 (rape), Section 376(D) (gang-rape), and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO). Vasai railway police inspector Bapusaheb Bagal said, "The girl is traumatized. We are taking the assistance of the counselors. The girl will be rehabilitated and given vocational training."
