E-Paper
Masked man rapes 12-year-old girl in Greater Noida; arrested
A 20-year-old man allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl, who was out to relieve herself in the woods, on Tuesday in an area under the Ecotech 3 police jurisdiction. The suspect was arrested by the police on Wednesday following a brief encounter.
According to the girl’s family, the incident took place on Tuesday afternoon around 1pm. “She had gone to the nearby woods to relieve herself. When she came back home a couple of hours later, she was bleeding and when we asked her about what had happened, she told us that an unidentified man wearing a mask had raped her,” the girl’s father said in a complaint to the police.
Police officers said that after a complaint was lodged with them, the girl was immediately sent for a medical examination and was then taken to the district hospital for treatment.
“The girl was very shaken and could not give tell us much about the incident except for the fact that the suspect was wearing a blue shirt and blue mask. She didn’t recognize him at all. However, on Wednesday morning when we interacted with her again, she said that the suspect had a slight limp. Teams were immediately formed and we started combing the nearby areas,” said Anita Chauhan, station house officer (SHO), Ecotech 3 police station.
“We spoke to a family near the area where the incident had taken place. Then we came across a boy who said he remembered seeing a person with the description given by the girl near a CNG pump in the area. Then we met some scrap dealers who also recognised the suspect. They directed us to a factory from where he had been fired for allegedly stealing some iron parts. They had a video of him and told us about his house in Habibpur. We found him on Wednesday night while he was sleeping in a field nearby,” said the SHO.
The suspect was identified as Rakesh Jatav, who is from Bulandshahr was currently living in Habibpur village.
The police said that Rakesh had a country-made pistol on him and fired at the police team while resisting arrest. He was nabbed following an encounter and the weapon was seized, they added.
“During questioning, the suspect told us that he had gone to the area looking for some marijuana and had come across the girl after which he subdued her and raped her. We have recovered his clothes with blood stains and other forensic evidence on them,” said SHO Chauhan. Rakesh had also been arrested a year ago for allegedly stealing scrap from an abandoned mall in Greater Noida, she added.
The suspect was booked under section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) act . He was produced before a magistrate and later sent to jail, the police said. Meanwhile, the girl is still recuperating at the district hospital.