The Vasai police in Maharashtra arrested a 34-year-old man Sunday for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 11-year-old girl who had gone missing on Saturday, officers said. The accused was later produced in court. The girl had run away from home after a fight with her parents and was kidnapped by the man while she was on her way back home, they said.
According to the police, the girl’s parents approached them at 1.30 am on Sunday to register a missing complaint. They said she ran away on Saturday evening around 4 pm after being scolded. The girl reached the railway station and took a local train to Mumbai before deciding to return home, officers said. She took a local train back home from Dadar railway station and reached at 2 am on Sunday.
At the station, the police said, she ran into the accused Arif Shaikh, 34, who took her to his residence and allegedly raped her, before leaving her on the road. The girl managed to reach home at 3.30 am. She then revealed her ordeal to a woman constable. Medical examination confirmed that the girl was sexually assaulted, a police officer said.
Following this, four teams were formed to nab the accused and the officers traced the accused within 12 hours of the incident using CCTV footage, the police said.
An FIR has been registered against Shaikh, who is unmarried and works in a mutton shop, under sections 363 (kidnapping), 376A and 376B (rape) under the Indian Penal Code and sections 4 and 8 (sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, they added.
“The accused was produced before a sessions court on Monday and remanded till May 19,” said Kalyanrao Karpe, senior police inspector.
