17-year-old abducted, gang-raped by two men in Nalasopara

Mumbai: Two men were arrested on Saturday for gang-raping a 17-year-old minor girl in a deserted location in Nagindas Pada, Nalasopara East, after abducting her in an autorickshaw on Friday

Mumbai: Two men were arrested on Saturday for gang-raping a 17-year-old minor girl in a deserted location in Nagindas Pada, Nalasopara East, after abducting her in an autorickshaw on Friday.

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The Tulinj police officials said the victim, who lives in Mumbai, used to visit Nalasopara to meet her friend frequently. Two weeks ago, she was introduced to one of the accused named Sonu, 18, who worked as a photographer in a studio next to her friend’s house.

The accused and the girl started chatting and exchanged phone numbers. On Friday, Sonu called the girl to Nalasopara, telling her that he would like to take her for an outing.

Shailendra Nagarkar, senior police inspector of the Tulinj police station, who was horrified by the incident, said that at Friday noon, the girl arrived in Nalasopara to meet the man.

He said that Sonu picked her up from the spot where they decided to meet and brought her to his studio when nobody was around. He locked the doors and started demanding sexual favours from the girl, who refused and decided it would be better if she left.

“When she was planning to leave, the second accused arrived outside Sonu’s studio, driving an autorickshaw. Sonu stopped the girl and pushed her inside the rickshaw and forcefully took her to an isolated area in Nagindas Pada where they took turns to rape her. The girl was also physically assaulted,” said the investigating officer.

Both men then left her in the bushes and fled the spot. The girl, who suffered severe injuries, returned to her house and narrated the incident to her parents who then went to the Tulinj police station to file a complaint. Based on their complaint, the cops registered an FIR against the two accused under section 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). “As the girl knew their names and identities, it was easier for us to trace and arrest them. We have also recorded the victim’s statement and sent her for medical examination,” said Nagarkar.

The police are now trying to find out whether the men had committed such a crime earlier as well.