Girl jumps from running auto rickshaw on vulgar question

Aurangabad: A minor girl jumped from a running auto-rickshaw between Sillekhana and Old Telegraph Office road on Sunday afternoon when its driver asked her a vulgar question.

Fortunately, her life was saved from being run over because of the alertness of the driver of the car which was coming from the rear. She sustained a serious head injury and was admitted to the ICU unit of MGM Hospital.

A case was registered with Kranti Chowk Police Station under different sections of the POCSO Act. Police launched a search and arrested the accused who was identified as Syed Akbar Syed Hameed (39, Kaisar Baugh, Padegaon).

Police officers said that the girl is a 12th-standard student from a city college.

She was returning home alone by the auto-rickshaw after attending lectures at a private coaching class.

The driver first asked her about her family information.

When the vehicle turned towards Khokadpura, the driver asked her another question whether she would like to have a physical relationship with him. He accelerated the speed of the vehicle. Frightened over this, the girl jumped from the running auto-rickshaw in front of Sankalp Classes.

The minor girl attends classes at three different coaching classes at Osmanpura as she was preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). Her father drops her to coaching classes daily in the morning while she returns home alone by an auto rickshaw.

She was returning home as usual on Sunday after attending classes through the auto-rickshaw (MH-20-EF-1562).

She had returned home five days ago by the same auto rickshaw. So, they had a facial acquaintance with the accused.

A car was coming at a high speed from the rear while the girl fell in the middle of the road. She had a narrow escape from being run over as the car driver used the brake suddenly. The whole incident was recorded in Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) cameras.

Residents of the area rushed towards the spot to help her. A man who was acquainted with the student’s father informed through a phone about the whole incident. Her brother and cousin came on the spot and rushed to MGM Hospital. Based on the girl’s statement, PSI Amol Sonawne is probing the case.

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How did the incident come to light?

The seriousness of the incident came to light when a constable recorded her statement on Sunday and informed this to the police inspector Dr Ganapat Darade.

Dr Darade rushed to the hospital and asked PSI of the special team Vikas Khatke to search for an auto driver. Police personnel examined the CCTV footage. They checked 10 auto rickshaws and identified the vehicle belonging to the accused.

The auto-rickshaw belongs to one person while it was given to Akbar at a daily rent of Rs 300.

The police arrested the accused from Padegaon in the evening. He confessed to committing the crime. The police team comprising Dr Darade, PSI Khatke, constable Mudiraj, Irfan Khan, Santosh Suryavanshi, Bhavlal Chavan, Hanumant Chalnewal, Shaikh Mushtaque, Sajjan Janewal completed the search and arrested the accused in the case. A similar incident had taken place six years near Mondha Naka Flyover on October 28, 2021.

In this case, the auto driver Anand Padulkar had misbehaved with the girl who too had jumped from the auto rickshaw.