Auto driver held for raping 15-year-old in Chandigarh forest

Police said the accused, Pawan, 31, a resident of EWS Colony, Sector 49, Chandigarh, is married and has three children

An auto-rickshaw driver has been arrested for raping a 15-year-old girl in the forest area in Sector 50 in broad daylight on Sunday.

The auto driver offered to drop the 15-year-old girl home even though she had no money. He then took the vehicle to the Sector-50 forest, where he raped her and fled after dropping her on the Model Jail road in Sector 51, said police. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Police said the accused, Pawan, 31, a resident of EWS Colony, Sector 49, is married and has three children.

They said on Sunday morning, the 15-year-old, who lives in Panchkula and works as a baby sitter in a Sector-28 house, had boarded the auto-rickshaw after Pawan offered to drop her home even though she had no money.

But he drove the vehicle around in Chandigarh, before taking the vehicle to the Sector-50 forest, where he raped the girl and fled after dropping her on the Model Jail road in Sector 51.

The crying girl was spotted by a female police official in whom the girl confided her ordeal. She was taken to the Sector 49 police station and a case was registered under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The police arrested the accused with the help of CCTV footage and different auto drivers, who identified him. The accused was produced before a court and sent to two-day police custody.