The Mumbai Railway Police on Sunday said they have arrested a man for allegedly raping a minor girl at the city’s Ulhasnagar railway station, ANI reported.
The accused, identified as Shrikant Gaikwad, has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those related to rape, kidnapping and criminal intimidation. He has also been charged under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
At a press conference, Mumbai Railway Police Commissioner Quaiser Khalid said that the assault took place on Friday night.
The girl had boarded a local train from Kalyan to Ulhasnagar, Khalid said, according to NDTV. She got off the train at Ulhasnagar around 9 pm on Friday and headed home with two of her friends whom she met at the station.
The accused attacked the three teenagers on a footover bridge at the station. He threatened to hit the girl’s friends with a hammer and forced them to leave. After this, he forcibly took the girl to a nearby deserted railway staff quarters and allegedly raped her.
On Saturday morning, the girl managed to escape from the accommodation. She contacted one of her friends after borrowing a phone from a passer-by. The friend advised her to file a complaint at a nearby police station.
However, Khalid said that officials in two police stations refused to file her complaint saying that the spot where the girl was allegedly raped did not fall under their jurisdiction. The police commissioner said that they were looking into why the complaint was not registered.
“We conducted the victim’s medical examination and she is receiving counselling,” Khalid said, according to NDTV. “A forensic team has examined the spot [where the girl was raped] and investigation is on.”
Khalid added that the accused had been charged in many cases for offences such as theft in Thane city.
The Ulhasnagar incident came to light a day after a woman, who was raped and assaulted in Mumbai’s Saki Naka area, died on Saturday. The police said that the accused, Mohan Chauhan, had inserted an unknown object into the woman’s private parts.
On Sunday, the National Commission for Women criticised the Maharashtra government for Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale’s comment saying that it was not possible for officers to be present at every crime location, The Hindu reported.
“They will reach only after getting the information,” Nagrale said after the last assault. “The police did their best.”
National Commission for Women member Chandramukhi Devi said that this was an unfortunate comment. She added that the state government should make efforts to improve the situation of women’s security in Maharashtra.
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