The Kharghar police has arrested a 42-year-old man on charges of raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter repeatedly over the past four years. The 14-year-old victim has been residing at her step-father’s house in Kharghar since 2020. According to police, the accused took advantage of the minor by giving her gifts and other items of her choice to exploit her physically.
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“The accused committed the crime from May 2020 to April 18, 2024,” said an official from Kharghar police station. He added that he established a physical relationship by forcing the minor girl. When she resisted, he used to give her gifts and other items of her choice. However, after the torture became more frequent and the victim was unable to bear the ordeal, she informed to her knowns and subsequently, a complaint was lodged at Kharghar police station on Tuesday night around 10 pm. The Kharghar police registered a case of rape against the step-father under sections 376, 376 (2) A of IPC and sections 4 and 12 of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) of 2012 and arrested him.
In another incident, Turbhe police booked a 22-year-old man for allegedly molesting two minor girls in cloth shops. The accused was identified as Vikas Shivlakhan Rastogi, a resident of Turbhe. While the incident took place on April 20 afternoon, a case was registered on April 23 night. The complainant, a rickshaw driver and father of an 11-year-old girl, stated that the accused took the victim and her 10-year-old friend inside a cloth shop and tried to sexually assault her. The girl had gone there to buy some clothes. However, the accused on the pretext of trial of the cloth, took her inside the shop and molested. Based on the complaint, the police registered a case of molestation under relevant sections of IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) of 2012.