Gujarat: Six-year-old girl rescued nearly two months after abduction
A six-year-old girl was rescued from Morbi, Gujarat, nearly two months after she was kidnapped from the state's Anand district, even as the accused, a laborer from Madhya Pradesh, is on the run, police said on Saturday. The minor, who was kidnapped on December 3, 2020, was rescued on January 25 from near a factory in Morbi nearly 240 kilometers from Tarapur in Anand.
The police identified the accused as Guddu Maliwad
After rescuing the girl, the police made video calls to her parents to confirm her identity as her head had been tonsured by the accused, identified as Guddu Maliwad, a police official said. The accused is a casual laborer from Kalyanpur in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh, who lived in the victim's neighborhood in Tarapur, the official informed.
CCTV footage revealed the accused lured her with a biscuit
"After the girl's disappearance, the victim's mother had lodged a complaint saying that a man living in their neighborhood kidnapped her six-year-old daughter," Anand Deputy Superintendent of Police Bharti Pandya said. During the probe, it was found through CCTV footage that the accused had lured her with a biscuit. The victim's family knew a relative of the accused, although indirectly, Pandya added.
What are the charges against the accused?
On December 3, a case had been registered at Tarapur Police station under IPC Section 363 (kidnapping) and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act based on a complaint filed by the victim's mother.
The investigation process that lead to the rescue
"As the accused did not use any kind of devices, like a mobile phone, only human intelligence was used and several police teams were formed and sent across parts of Gujarat to trace the girl," she said. According to police, after rescuing the girl, it was found that the accused had beaten her up and shaved her head.
Police is waiting for the medical reports of the minor
"The accused was constantly on the move after kidnapping her, and finally ended up in Morbi where he handed her over to a woman living in a slum near a factory from where she was rescued," the DSP said. Police said they are waiting for the medical reports to ascertain if the minor was sexually assaulted.
Girl underwent surgery for head injuries; cost borne by police
The girl was brought back to Anand, where she underwent surgery for her head injuries and was admitted to a hospital for two days. "We got her medically examined for the second time post-counseling as she is in trauma," she said. The entire medical treatment cost was borne by the police as she belonged to a poor family of laborers, the official added.
