Palwal: Man held for holding 11-year-old girl captive, raping her

Police said the girl’s mother raised the alarm after hearing her screams, following which her father and others broke open the locked room.

A 30-year-old suspect was arrested for allegedly raping his 11-year-old sister-in-law after holding her captive inside a mosque in Palwal’s Hassanpur, police said on Saturday.

The suspect was staying at the mosque after the victim’s father, a cleric there, arranged accommodation for him while he was in Hassanpur. (HT)

Police said the suspect was in Hassanpur for some personal work and the victim’s father, a cleric of the mosque, arranged for the suspect to stay on the premises. The incident took place on Tuesday when the victim, a Class 6 student at a private school in Hassanpur, went to the premises to retrieve a mobile phone charger from her father’s room.

A senior police officer said, “When she entered the mosque, the suspect found her alone and allegedly called her inside a room and locked it. Afterwards, the suspect raped her.”

Investigators said the victim’s mother grew suspicious when the girl did not return for a while, as she was to leave for school. She went to the mosque and upon hearing the girl screaming, raised the alarm.

A police officer privy to the investigation said the victim’s father and others broke open the room and rescued her, but the suspect managed to flee.

Sub-inspector Vijay Pal, station house officer of the Hassanpur police station, said the victim was rushed to Civil Hospital in Palwal, where she remained under treatment for two days before being discharged. Her medical examination confirmed sexual assault, he said. “Her statement was also recorded before a judicial magistrate, in which she narrated the entire ordeal,” he said.

Pal said the victim’s father submitted a written complaint, following which an FIR was registered against the suspect under Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act on Tuesday.

“On Wednesday, the suspect was traced and arrested from another location in Hassanpur where he was hiding. He was remanded to jail after production before a court on the next day,” Pal said.